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CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 


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CHINA 


IN    LAW   AND    COMMERCE 


BY 
T.   R.   JERNIGAN 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Lri>. 
1905 

All  rights  reserved 


COPTRIGIIT,   1906, 

Bt  the  macmillan  company. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  May,  1905. 


Nortamati  Puds 

J.  S.  Cashing  &  Co.  — Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

In  its  administration  the  government  of  China  is  des- 
potic and  democratic.  Practically  each  province  exists 
as  an  independent  unit  and  is  sufficient  unto  itself,  but 
in  theory  the  power  of  the  Emperor  is  unlimited. 

It  would  seem  impossible  for  any  government  to  endure 
long  when  such  antagonistic  elements  entered  into  its 
administration,  and  yet  China  is  the  oldest  empire  of 
history. 

While  the  decrees  of  the  Emperor  are  received  and 
promptly  executed  by  the  provincial  authorities,  there 
have  been  few  emperors  of  China  who  proved  bold  enough 
to  persist  in  disregarding  public  opinion  in  a  province. 

In  China  law  is  founded  on  custom,  and  there  are  as 
many  different  customs  in  the  Empire  as  there  are  prov- 
inces ;  and  frequently  in  the  same  province  customs  relat- 
ing to  important  public  and  private  business  are  found 
to  differ  materially. 

As  the  building  of  the  governmental  fabric  proceeds 
from  the  family  unit  and  not  from  the  central  authority 
at  Peking,  it  is  more  apparent,  therefore,  why  custom  is 
so  influential  a  factor  in  all  things  Chinese. 

The  customs  of  a  family  are  mainly  the  customs  of  the 
Empire,  and  before  the  inner  history  of  China  can  be 


VI  PREFACE 

understood  there  must  be  a  careful  study  of  the  family 
life  of  the  people. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  view  the  following  papers 
were  written  to  indicate  the  more  influential  agencies  in 
the  law  and  commerce  of  China ;  and  when  my  own  ob- 
servation and  experience  have  failed  to  satisfy  me,  I  have 
consulted  the  standard  authorities  named  in  the  text,  in 
order  that  what  I  have  written  should  at  least  merit  con- 
fidence because  of  its  substantial  accuracy. 

T.  R.  JERNIGAN. 

Shanghai,  China. 


CONTENTS 

OHAPTES  PAOB 

I.    Physical  Features  and  Origins        ....  1 

n.    Government .        .        .33 

m.    Law 70 

IV.    Family  Law Ill 

V.    Tenure  and  Transfer  of  Property         .        .        .  132 

VI.    Taxation 154 

Vn.    Courts 176 

VIII.    Extra-territoriahty 193 

IX.    Guilds 205 

X.    Business  Customs 222 

XI.     Banks 275 

XII.    Weights,  Measures,  and  Currency  ....  291 

XIII.  Land  Transit 309 

XIV.  Water  Transit       . 334 

XV.    Railway  Transit 369 

Index 397 


▼U 


CHINA  IN  LAW   AND    COMMERCE 

CHAPTER  I 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS 

As  I  intend  to  write  about  the  government  and  the 
laws  and  customs  of  China,  I  will  introduce  the  subject 
with  a  brief  account  of  the  physical  characteristics  of  the 
Empire  and  of  the  origin  of  the  Chinese.  If  an  interest 
sliould  be  felt  in  the  system  of  government  and  the 
administration  of  the  laws,  there  would  naturally  be  the 
wish  to  know  something  of  the  country  and  the  people. 

China  occupies  in  Asia  a  position  similar  to  that  of  the 
United  States  in  America.  The  former  looks  out  over 
the  Pacific  as  the  latter  do  over  the  Atlantic,  and  both  are 
between  the  twenty-fifth  and  fortieth  parallels  of  north 
latitude.  It  is  due  to  this  fact  that  there  is  much  resem- 
blance between  the  two  in  climate  as  well  as  productions. 

The  climates  of  both  are  distinctly  continental.  The 
distinctions  between  summer  and  winter,  especially  in 
the  more  northern  regions  of  each,  are  extremely  marked. 
Both  are  well  watered.  The  valleys  of  their  great  rivers, 
amongst  the  largest  in  the  world,  contain  areas  of  land 
not  surpassed  in  fertility  elsewhere. 

The  territory  of  the  United  States  extends  across  the 
entire  continent  and  has  on  the  Pacific  a  seaboard  of  about 
equal  extent  with  that  on  the  Atlantic.  China,  owing  to 
the  greater  extent,  east  and  west,  of  the  Old  Continent, 

B  1 


2  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

has  a  western  frontier  bounded  by  vast  deserts,  which  are 
amongst  the  most  unproductive  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
This  fact  modifies  to  a  certain  degree  the  climatic  distinc- 
tions, and  by  introducing  the  phenomenon  of  the  monsoon 
brings  it  about  that  China,  practically,  has  two  distinct 
climates  :  one,  in  summer,  is  that  of  the  tropics,  the  other, 
in  winter,  is  actually  north  temperate.  They  correspond 
in  each  case  with  a  shift  of  latitude  from  ten  to  twelve 
degrees  south  or  north  respectively. 

The  water  system  of  China,  compared  with  that  of  the 
United  States,  is  materially  different.  Instead  of  the 
main  drainage  of  the  country  being  directed  from  north 
to  south,  the  rivers  in  China  mostly  flow  from  east  to  west, 
a  fact  which  affects  the  products  of  the  soil  and  the  com- 
munications and  commerce  of  the  land. 

The  three  great  commercial  cities  of  China  are  situated 
at  the  mouths  of  her  three  great  rivers.  There  is  Canton, 
with  its  distributing  port  of  Hongkong,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Pearl  River,  which  communicates  with  the  important 
provinces  of  Kwangtung  and  Kwangsi ;  Shanghai,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  great  river  Yangtse,  which  communicates 
with  the  entire  centre  and  southwest ;  and,  lastly,  Tientsin, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  which  opens  up  water  com- 
munication with  the  whole  of  the  metropolitan  province 
of  Pechili,  and  from  it,  by  well-beaten  tracks,  with  the 
entire  northwest. 

Still  farther  to  the  northeast,  outside  the  limits  of  China 
proper,  and  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Liao  River,  is 
the  growing  port  of  Newchwang,  which  must  not  be 
omitted  from  any  account  of  China.  This  port  affords 
an  outlet  for  the  fertile  country  of  Manchuria,  which, 
although  geographically  and  geologically  forming  a  sepa- 
rate region,  cannot  commercially  and  politically  be  dis- 
cussed apart.      Although  China  cannot  be  considered  a 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  3 

mountainous  country,  few  of  its  elevations  rising  above 
five  thousand  feet,  yet  not  one  of  the  provinces  is  without 
its  mountain  chain.  But  these  are  seldom  much  higher 
than  from  sixteen  hundred  to  twenty-five  hundred  feet, 
though  they  are  very  uniform  in  structure  and  appearance. 
For  the  most  part  these  mountain  chains  are  composed  of 
palaeozoic  rocks,  limestone,  or  irregular  sandstones,  with 
cones  of  granite  or  other  hypogene  rocks.  The  direction 
of  these  chains  is  very  uniform,  running  in  all  the  prov- 
inces from  Szechuan  eastward  in  lines  trending  from  a 
few  degrees  south  of  southwest  to  northeast. 

The  rivers,  flowing  in  a  general  direction  from  west  to 
east,  have  to  submit  to  the  superior  influence  of  the  moun- 
tain ranges,  and  run  alternately  toward  the  northeast  and 
southeast,  as  their  courses  lie  in  the  synclinal,  or  find  a 
breach  at  right  angles  with  the  strike.  This  in  turn  leads 
to  the  somewhat  chess-board  arrangement  of  the  outlines 
of  the  provinces,  though  in  the  majority  of  cases  these 
latter  are  found  to  consist  of  a  great  central  depression 
surrounded  by  mountain  chains  of  no  great  altitude, 
the  watershed  of  which  is  also  the  boundary  of  the 
province. 

Hence  it  occurs  that  for  the  most  part  each  province 
forms  a  separate  basin,  and  is  marked  not  only  by  its  own 
water  system,  but  by  its  characteristic  ethnological  fea- 
tures. Thus  the  inhabitants  of  Kiangsi  are  clearly  dif- 
ferentiated from  those  of  Hunan,  while  both  types  are 
readily  distinguishable  from  those  of  Kwangtung  or 
Kwangsi.  In  a  less  degree  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the 
several  provinces  have  their  distinct  characteristics,  and 
this,  there  is  little  doubt,  has  immediately  contributed  to 
the  growth  of  the  large  amount  of  interprovincial  com- 
merce, which  in  all  periods  has  been  a  marked  feature  of 
the  Chinese  as  a  nation. 


4  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

From  a  series  of  like  causes,  also  intimately  connected 
with  the  geology  of  the  country,  the  physical  aspect  of 
north  China  has  come  to  differ  widely  from  that  of  the 
south.  While  south  of  the  Yangtse  the  plains  and  valleys 
are  filled  with  alluvial  formations,  which  constitute  the 
surface  soil  of  the  land,  and  whose  deposition  may  be 
traced  to  causes  still  in  operation,  the  plains  and  bottoms 
of  China,  north  of  the  same  line,  though  apparently  simi- 
lar in  situation,  are  covered  with  a  remarkable  deposit, 
in  no  respect  alluvial,  known  to  geologists  as  loess. 
Again,  while  the  difference  in  level  between  the  surface  of 
the  alluvial  delta  of  the  Yangtse  and  the  plains  of  Szechuan 
is  barely  discernible,  even  with  the  aid  of  the  barometer, 
the  plain  of  Kansu  in  the  extreme  northwest  rises  fully 
three  thousand  feet  above  the  coast-line  of  Pechili.  The 
general  aspect,  the  products  both  animal  and  vegetable, 
the  drainage  system,  and  the  means  of  locomotion  differ 
widely,  and  as  a  consequence  the  history  of  north  China 
has  been  materially  influenced  and  forced  into  develop- 
ments extremely  different  from  those  of  the  south. 

The  one  main  exception  in  south  China  has  been  the 
province  of  Yunnan,  which  is  situated  at  the  extreme 
southeast  angle  of  the  Tibetan  highlands,  where  these 
elevated  mountain  masses  come  in  contact  with  the  moun- 
tain system  of  China  referred  to.  Yunnan  forms  a  distinct 
mountain  plateau.  Its  valleys  are  filled  with  deposits 
that  are  the  direct  result  of  the  local  wear  and  tear  of  its 
own  mountains,  and  hence  differ  from  the  alluvial  plains 
of  south  China  as  much  as  from  the  loess-clad  uplands  of 
the  northwest.  The  political  connection  of  Yunnan  with 
China  is  also  much  more  recent  than  that  of  the  other 
provinces,  prior  to  the  thirteenth  century  belonging  to 
the  political  system  of  the  Indo-Chinese  Peninsula. 

Historicall3%  north  China  is  older  than  south  China. 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  6 

From  whatever  quarter  of  the  world  the  settlers  originally 
came,  it  is  a  historical  fact  that  about  fourteen  centuries 
before  Christ  these  settlers,  to  whom  is  due  the  civilization 
of  northern  China,  were  in  occupation  of  the  extreme  north- 
west along  the  upper  waters  of  the  Hwang-ho  in  what  now 
constitutes  the  provinces  of  Kansu  and  Shensi.  The  geo- 
graphical peculiarities  of  this  district  had  subsequently  a 
powerful  effect  in  shaping  the  infant  state. 

At  that  period,  and  for  many  centuries  after,  the  land 
wore  a  different  aspect  from  what  it  now  presents. 
The  hillsides  were  abundantly  covered  with  primeval 
forests  of  stately  trees,  while  the  low  grounds,  where  the 
soil  consisted  of  rich  loess,  as  yet  comparatively  little  de- 
nuded, were  covered  with  herbage  interspersed  with  clumps 
of  mulberry,  elm,  chestnut,  and  other  trees,  which  in  these 
latitudes  associate  in  clusters.  As  the  forests  on  the 
hillsides  had  not  yet  been  cut  down,  the  country  was 
more  equally  watered,  nor  were  the  extremes  of  climate 
then  experienced  in  these  regions  of  such  intensity  as  at 
present.  The  forests  abounded  in  wild  game,  bears,  oxen, 
deer,  foxes,  beavers,  pheasants,  etc.  Over  the  plains 
wandered  herds  of  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  or  the  tailed 
deer,  a  few  solitary  descendants  of  which  are  still  to  be 
found  in  the  neglected  park  at  Peking,  or  scattered  through 
the  menageries  of  Europe,  while  from  the  mulberry  trees 
depended  long  skeins  of  silk  from  the  uncultivated  silk- 
worms that  feasted  unmolested  on  their  leaves.  The 
native  inhabitants  were  gentle,  pastoral  tribes  who  led 
uneventful  lives  amidst  pastoral  surroundings.  They  were 
dark-complexioned,  had  long  black  hair,  and  were,  on  the 
whole,  not  unlike  many  of  the  present  Tibetan  peoples  of 
the  Kokonor,  whom  they  likewise  resembled  in  their  man- 
ners and  stage  of  civilization.  The  newcomers  were,  on 
the  contrary,  fair-haired,  with  light  blue  or  gray  eyes. 


6  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

They  were  agriculturists,  pure  and  simple,  and  despised 
the  ways  of  their  pastoral  predecessors,  on  whom  they 
waged  incessant  war.  Agriculture  with  them  was  more 
than  an  art,  it  was  a  religion;  and  this  fact  has  in  all 
succeeding  ages  markedly  affected  the  products,  and  even 
the  face,  of  the  land. 

These  newcomers  on  taking  possession  proceeded  to 
clear  the  forests.  So  deeply  rooted  was  their  distaste  for 
pastoral  life  that,  except  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the 
plough,  cattle-rearing  was  discouraged,  and  even  sheep 
were  regarded  with  disfavour.  A  war  of  extermination 
was  carried  on  against  the  feral  inhabitants  of  the  woods 
and  pasture  lands.  The  only  tree  whose  cultivation  was 
encouraged  was  the  mulberry,  the  leaves  of  which  were 
required  for  the  feeding  of  the  silkworm;  and  the  culti- 
vation of  silk  at  an  early  date  became  one  of  the  chief 
industries  of  China.  Unfortunately  for  the  land  itself  all 
these  new  arts  were  cultivated  to  an  extreme  which,  car- 
ried on  for  thousands  of  years,  has  changed  both  the 
surface  and  the  climate  of  north  China. 

The  destruction  of  the  hill  forests  has  left  the  hill- 
sides bare  and  barren.  Their  covering  of  herbage  has 
been  washed  away  from  their  unprotected  surfaces,  and 
this  denudation  has  reacted  on  the  climate,  inducing  long 
periods  of  drought  which,  alternating  with  destructive 
rainfalls,  have  proved  injurious  to  the  well-being  of  the 
inhabitants.  In  the  plains  the  discouragement  of  cattle- 
rearing  and  the  want  of  food  have  led  to  the  practical 
obliteration  of  the  grasses  which  once  clothed  the  surface 
of  the  loess. 

True  to  the  instinct  engendered  by  centuries  of  agricul- 
ture run  wild,  the  modern  peasant,  without  fuel  other 
than  the  droppings  of  his  few  domestic  animals,  or  the 
scant  grass  which  he  finds  growing  by  the  wayside,  does 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  7 

not  hesitate  to  grub  up  by  the  roots  the  plants  that  for 
him  have  no  other  conceivable  use  than  as  substitutes  for 
fire-wood. 

The  result  is  as  disastrous  as  the  destruction  of  the 
forests.  The  surface  of  the  light  soil  is  deprived  of 
its  natural  protection,  and  as  the  period  of  the  spring 
ploughing  is  coincident  with  the  windy  season,  the  yearly 
recurring  gales  carry  away  the  superficial  soil  in  what  may 
be  described  as  streams,  as  if  an  ever  acting  planing- 
machine  were  annually  engaged  in  removing  the  surface 
and  carrying  the  shavings  to  the  nearest  ravines,  whence, 
in  turn,  by  the  floods  of  the  early  summer,  the  shavings 
are  carried  out  into  the  Gulf  of  Pechili,  which  they  are 
rapidly  filling  up.  Even  independent  of  the  aqueous 
denudation,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  the  rivers  of 
north  China,  and  which  gives  its  name  to  the  Hwang-ho, 
literally  Yellow  River,  one  of  the  most  marked  phenomena 
in  northern  China  is  the  perpetual  recurrence  of  dust- 
storms  which,  especially  in  the  spring  months,  often  darken 
the  air  for  days  at  a  time.  One  of  these  dust-storms,  it  has 
been  calculated,  bears  out  to  sea  several  million  tons  of 
the  fine  loess  soil,  and  as  several  occur  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  the  annual  waste  of  the  fertile  loess  is  a 
phenomenon  beginning  to  have  its  deleterious  effect,  in 
addition  to  other  sources  of  degeneration  in  northern 
China,  written  of  above. 

Similar  causes  are  at  work  throughout  the  entire  conti- 
nent of  Asia  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Yellow  Sea. 
Everywhere  is  met  the  same  phenomenon  of  a  gradual 
deterioration  of  climate,  accompanied  by  destruction  of  the 
ancient  forests  and  a  retrocession  of  the  cultivated  area. 
In  these  respects  north  China  partakes  of  a  continental 
rather  than  an  isolated  character.  The  entire  belt  between 
the  thirtieth  and  forty-fifth  parallels,  the  long  strip  lying 


8  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

between  the  tropics  and  the  true  temperate  zone,  partakes 
all  through  of  one  character.  To  seek  the  causes  at  work 
one  must  go  back  beyond  the  times  of  history  or  even  the 
first  introduction  of  man. 

In  times  geological,  by  no  means  remote,  the  whole  of 
this  vast  belt  was  in  fact  represented  by  a  great  Asiatic 
Mediterranean  Sea  whose  currents  brought  a  continual 
stream  of  warm  water  to  lave  the  shores  of  the  northern  and 
southern  lands,  both  covered  by  rich  forests,  and  each 
inhabited  by  its  own  peculiar  mammalian  fauna.  There 
was,  in  fact,  in  north  Asia  no  glacial  epoch,  and  the  old 
pre-glacial  mammals  of  Europe  long  survived  in  what  are 
now  the  frozen  tundras  of  Siberia. 

When  the  early  immigrants  first  arrived  in  north  China, 
they  found  the  land  still  occupied  by  the  mammoth  and 
the  woolly  rhinoceros  ;  allusions  to  both  of  these  are 
numerous  in  the  older  Chinese  classics,  more  especially  in 
the  Shi  King  and  the  Tso  Chwen.  North  and  south  China, 
in  the  period  immediately  before  the  arrival  of  man, 
belonged  to  two  separate  continents,  and  this  circumstance, 
and  this  alone,  can  account  for  their  marked  physical  dis- 
tinctions, whether  climatic,  structural,  or  ethnological. 

Politically,  the  distinction  between  north  and  south 
China  was,  till  the  thirteenth  century,  as  marked.  In 
Marco  Polo's  time,  while  Cathay  was  the  usual  title  for  the 
northern  section,  the  southern  was  known  by  the  ancient 
name  of  Manzi  or  more  correctly  Mantsz.  The  distinction 
was  an  ancient  one,  and  dates  back  to  a  period  before  the 
foundation  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  It  was  not  till  the 
time  of  Ts'in  Shi  Hwangti,  in  the  third  century  B.C.,  that 
the  peoples  forming  the  ruling  race  in  China  crossed  the 
Mien  Shan,  the  name  then  applied  to  the  mountain  masses 
separating  Szechuan  from  the  basin  of  the  Hwang-ho  and 
prolonged  to  the  eastward  through  the  greater  portion  of 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  9 

what  is  now  the  northern  part  of  the  province  of  Anhwei. 
Prior  to  this  inroad  of  the  great  conqueror,  whilst  the 
north  of  this  line  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  immi- 
grant tribes  of  the  Cheos,  all  south  of  the  Mien  range  was 
under  the  rule,  direct  or  indirect,  of  the  kings  of  Ch'u,  who 
themselves  were  by  race  Mantsz.  These  Mantsz  were 
an  Indo-Chinese  race  and  owed  what  civilization  they 
possessed  rather  to  south  India  than  to  their  neighbours 
in  north  China.  The  powerful  Emperors  of  the  early 
Hans  had  succeeded  in  bringing  southern  China,  so  far  as 
the  Nanling  range,  under  their  dominion,  but  after  the 
dynasty  came  to  an  end,  China  for  many  centuries  went 
back  to  her  former  state  of  division. 

Once  more  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century  the 
great  ruler  Li  Shimin,  founder  of  the  house  of  T'ang,  suc- 
ceeded in  uniting  north  and  south  again,  to  part,  however, 
on  the  fall  of  the  house,  after  which,  with  a  short  interval 
during  the  southern  Sung,  the  old  state  of  division  was 
restored,  to  continue  till  the  thirteenth  century,  when 
Kublai,  at  the  head  of  his  Mongols,  finally  united  north 
and  south,  a  condition  which  has  survived  till  the  present 
day.  Kublai  did  even  more,  for  to  his  arms  is  due  the 
incorporation  into  the  Chinese  Empire  of  the  great  prov- 
ince of  Yunnan,  while  temporarily  he  extended  its  rule 
over  Burma  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Indo-Chinese 
Peninsula. 

For  the  greater  part  of  their  history,  then,  north  and 
south  China  have  existed  as  separate  and  independent 
states,  and  it  is  necessary  for  a  due  understanding  of  the 
modern  Chinese  problem  that  this  fact  should  be  recog- 
nized. It  is  quite  true  that  much  intermixture  of  north 
with  south  has  taken  place  in  comparatively  modern  times, 
when  forced  movements  of  the  populations  have  by  whole- 
sale modified  the  inhabitants  of  one  or  other  of  the  prov- 


10  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

inces.  Thus  during  the  time  of  the  Mongol  dynasty  large 
settlements  of  northern  immigrants  took  place  in  Yunnan. 
The  commencement  of  the  present  dynasty  was,  however, 
marked  by  the  greatest  of  these  transplantations.  During 
the  troublous  times,  at  the  close  of  the  Ming  rule,  so  great 
was  the  anarchy,  and  so  fearful  the  destruction  of  human 
life  in  the  great  province  of  Szechuan,  that  on  the  estab- 
lishment of  settled  government,  under  the  Manchu  rule,  the 
country  was  found  to  have  relapsed  almost  to  a  state  of 
nature,  and  large  districts  were  found  waste  and  practi- 
cally depopulated.  To  fill  the  void  the  new  government 
imported  an  almost  entirely  new  population  from  the 
northern  provinces  of  Shensi,  which  it  settled  on  the  waste 
grounds.  The  result  is  seen  not  only  in  the  physique  of 
the  inhabitants,  but  is  marked  in  the  spoken  dialect  which 
is  now  essentially  northern  in  its  connections.  About  the 
same  period,  from  similar  causes,  the  population  of  Shan- 
tung had  become  so  attenuated  that  immigration  from  the 
northwest  was  invited.  The  result  here  again  was  not 
only  a  modification  of  the  language,  but  the  loss  amongst 
the  modern  inhabitants  of  nearly  all  the  old  traditions  of 
this  classic  land,  in  the  old  days  the  most  advanced  of  the 
entire  hegemony. 

Even  in  modern  days  the  same  causes  are  at  work  grad- 
ually unifying  the  population  of  the  Empire.  Between 
1859  and  1865  the  whole  of  southern  Kiangnan  had  be- 
come depopulated,  between  the  Taiping  rebels  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  bands  of  semi-savage  Hunan  troops  sent  to 
repress  the  movement  on  the  other.  When  the  rebellion 
was  suppressed,  these  troops  were  settled  in  large  numbers 
on  the  waste  lands,  as  in  the  former  cases  referred  to ;  the 
result  has  been  a  very  considerable  modification  of  the 
speech  as  well  as  the  loss  of  many  of  the  old  traditions. 

The  great  distinction,  however,  between  north  and  south 


PHYSICAL  FEATUKES   AND   ORIGINS  11 

depends  not  on  the  characters  and  affinities  of  the  peoples, 
but  on  the  character  of  the  land  and  the  nature  of  the  soU. 
Climate  and  soil  alike  point  out  south  China  as  essentially 
a  rice-growing  country,  both  equally  interdict  its  cultiva- 
tion to  any  extent  in  the  north.  Perforce  the  southern 
Chinese  is  a  rice-eater,  with  all  the  peculiarities  attaching 
to  the  rice-eater  elsewhere.  The  northerner,  compelled  to 
live  on  his  more  substantial  crops  of  wheat,  pulse,  and 
millet,  has  developed  a  stronger  physique  as  well  as  a  less 
nervous  organization.  There  are  thus  at  work  in  modern 
China  two  strongly  contrasted  factors,  one  dependent  on 
the  nature  of  the  climate  and  soil,  making  for  divergence ; 
the  other  political,  tending  toward  unification  of  the 
population. 

As  stated  at  the  commencement  of  this  introduction, 
the  exposed  rocks  throughout  the  eighteen  provinces  are 
in  the  main  of  palaeozoic  age.  These  rocks  all  through 
have  undergone  much  subsequent  change,  and  generally 
are  to  be  found  much  altered  and  denuded.  For  the  most 
part,  as  might  have  been  anticipated  from  its  former  con- 
tinental exposure,  south  China  has  undergone  a  longer 
period  of  denudation ;  hence  the  lower  strata  and  the  sub- 
jacent crystalline  rocks  are  more  extensively  exposed, 
while  the  upper  rocks,  especially  the  coal  measures,  occur 
in  smaller  and  more  widely  separated  localities. 

Owing  to  the  long-continued  submergence  of  north 
China,  the  upper  members  of  the  palaeozoic  series  have  here 
undergone  far  less  denudation,  and  from  this  fact  it  results 
that  the  true  coal  measures  are  far  more  widely  distrib- 
uted and  cover  far  greater  areas  than  those  south  of  the 
Yangtse.  This  fact  has  always  had  an  important  bearing 
on  the  resources  of  the  north.  During  the  Mongol  and 
Ming  dynasties  mining,  if  not  entirely  encouraged,  was 
permitted  to  go  on  without  molestation  from  the  govern- 


12  CHrNA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ment,  and  large  quantities  of  coal  and  other  minerals  were 
raised  in  all  the  northern  provinces  to  the  no  small  advan- 
tage of  the  people  at  large.  With  the  advent  of  the 
present  Manchu  dynasty  another  policy  supervened.  The 
Manchus  never  attained  to  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
people  whom  they  had  conquered,  and  this  mistrust  they 
showed  in  various  ways,  as  in  the  sumptuary  regulations 
which  they  forced  on  an  unwilling  people.  From  similar 
motives  the  working  of  the  mines  was  discouraged,  and  as 
far  as  any  new  works  were  concerned,  sternly  repressed,  to 
the  no  small  loss  of  the  Empire  at  large.  At  the  present 
day  the  investigator  finds  in  all  the  northern  provinces 
extensive  remains  of  former  workings,  and  to  his  inquiries 
the  same  answer  is  always  returned  that  they  were  old 
Ming  workings  forbidden  under  the  present  regime. 
Occasionally  the  distaste  for  mining  took  a  different  form, 
and  stone  tablets  are  seen  setting  forth  the  forcible  closure 
of  certain  mines,  and  orders  under  heavy  penalties  forbid- 
ding their  reopening. 

Coal  in  workable  quantities  occurs  in  all  the  northern 
provinces.  In  Shantung  it  is  to  be  found  in  basins  more 
or  less  detached  in  most  of  the  prefectures,  of  which  Tsi- 
nan,  Tsingchow,  Taingan,  and  Ichow  may  be  specially 
mentioned,  the  coal  in  Taingan-fu  being  apparently  of  the 
highest  class.  In  Chili,  wherever  the  fringing  mountain 
ranges  rise  over  the  level  of  the  plain,  alluvial  or  loess, 
coal-mines  worked  under  the  unfavourable  conditions  of 
absence  of  proper  machinery  and  official  disfavour  are  to 
be  found.  Amongst  those  partially  explored  may  be 
mentioned  the  coal-fields  of  Wanping,  a  few  miles  north- 
east of  Peking,  Pingting,  and  Tsechow.  The  coal-fields  of 
Tangshan,  including  the  neighbouring  workings  of  Linsse, 
are  being  mined  under  an  Anglo-Belgian  company  with 
machinery  of  the  most  advanced  modern  type,  and  give 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   OEIGINS  13 

satisfactory  results  to  the  proprietors.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  these  measures,  probably  in  most  cases  at  work- 
able depths,  underlie  the  greater  part  of  the  plain  of  lower 
Chili.  The  widest  extension  of  the  coal  measures  is,  how- 
ever, to  be  found  in  the  great  field  of  southern  Shansi  and 
northern  Honan,  which  will  probably  prove  to  be  one  of  the 
most  extensive  coal  deposits.  These  deposits  are  already 
being  opened  up,  with  foreign  machinery  and  under  foreign 
inspection,  by  the  Peking  Syndicate,  an  English  company 
which  has  obtained  valuable  mining  and  railway  conces- 
sions in  this  province. 

These  coal  measures  are  known  to  be  accompanied  by 
valuable  deposits  of  excellent  iron  ore.  Though  worked 
for  many  centuries  in  their  usual  primitive  manner  by  the 
Chinese,  they  have  not  yet  been  taken  in  hand  by  the 
syndicate,  though  arrangements  are  in  progress  to  enable 
it  to  do  so. 

Though  not  so  well  known  as  Shansi,  Shensi  also  pro- 
duces considerable  quantities  of  coal  and  iron,  especially 
in  its  southern  districts  along  the  head  waters  of  the 
river  Han.  Europeans  are  practically  unacquainted  with 
this  coal-field,  which,  judging  from  the  observations  of 
the  Abbe  David,  must  be  of  considerable  extent  and 
importance.  Farther  west  there  are  known  to  be  large 
areas  of  productive  measures  in  Kansu,  and  these  are 
noticed  as  reaching  into  the  extreme  west  of  the  province 
and  even  into  the  New  Dominion. 

Although  there  is  little  prospect  of  these  latter  being 
utilized  in  the  near  future,  there  is  the  possibility  in  every 
part  of  their  eventually  becoming  valuable  assets.  With 
the  gradual  advance  of  north  China,  it  will  annually  be- 
come of  greater  importance  to  secure  her  communications 
with  the  Far  West.  Geographical  considerations  point 
to  the  great  highway  via  Tungkwan  as  the  only  available 


14  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

route,  and  the  presence  of  important  coal  supplies  at  short 
intervals  all  the  way  from  Honan  to  Singan,  and  from 
thence  all  the  way  to  Kansu  and  Shacheo,  seems  to  indi- 
cate this  as  the  future  highroad  from  western  Asia  to 
the  heart  of  China.  In  practice,  railroads  have  been 
found  the  only  possible  means  of  traversing  great  deserts, 
eliminating  as  they  do  the  difficult  question  of  time  and 
supplies.  Should  it  eventually  be  found  practicable  to 
cross  the  elevated  passes  over  the  Pamirs,  the  desert  por- 
tion of  the  track  would  be  found  to  offer  no  insuperable 
difficulty  in  the  reestablishment  of  the  ancient  trade  route 
from  west  to  east  formerly  opened  up  by  the  enterprise 
of  the  great  Chinese  Emperor  Wu  Ti. 

The  widely  extended  palaeozoic  formation  of  China  ex- 
tends up  to  the  flanks  of  the  vast  elevated  plateau  of  Mon- 
golia, where  it  is  succeeded  by  a  great  outburst  of  igneous 
rocks.  Along  the  junction,  as  is  to  be  noticed  in  many 
similar  instances,  there  apparently  occur  indications  of  rich 
metallic  deposits.  Amongst  these  may  be  mentioned  cop- 
per, which  seems  to  have  been  formerly  worked  in  several 
localities  till  the  mines  were  closed  through  the  jealous 
interference  of  the  Manchu  conquerors  of  China.  Gold  is 
also  known  to  occur  in  paying  quantities  in  the  sands  and 
alluvial  deposits  of  the  streams  flowing  from  the  Mongo- 
lian plateau,  while  in  several  localities  there  are  extensive 
deposits  of  argentiferous  lead ;  the  region,  though  practi- 
cally unexplored,  affords  indications  that  a  thorough 
exploration  would  result  in  the  discovery  of  a  rich  mining 
district,  which  in  the  present  condition  of  the  country, 
with  its  congested  population,  would  be  invaluable. 

I  have  earlier  in  this  introduction  spoken  of  the  waste- 
ful system  of  agriculture  adopted  throughout  north  China, 
and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  originated.  The 
surface  soil  throughout  the  whole  of  northern  China  may 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  15 

be  described  as  loess,  either  first-hand  or  rearranged,  and 
between  these  two  there  is  to  be  drawn  a  distinct  line  of 
difference.  The  original  loess  is,  in  fact,  rich  in  soluble 
salts,  principally  of  lime;  in  the  rearranged  loess  along 
the  principal  rivers,  especially  the  Hwang-ho,  these  salts 
have  been  for  the  most  part  dissolved  out,  and  the  result- 
ing deposit  is  an  almost  impalpable  sand,  which  offers  no 
resistance  to  the  denuding  effects  of  wind  and  water. 
This  is  one  of  the  main  causes  which  have  concurred  to 
increase  the  naturally  wandering  character  of  the  rivers 
of  the  region,  and  to  detract  seriously  from  their  naviga- 
bility. Except  here  and  there  for  short  distances,  the 
Hwang-ho,  though  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  world, 
is  actually  of  no  service  as  a  freight  carrier.  From  the 
same  cause,  as  well  as  from  the  loess  in  its  lower  course 
being  underlaid  by  deep  beds  of  marine  sands,  the  river- 
bed has  a  tendency  to  leak,  with  the  result  that  the  size 
of  the  river,  and  the  body  of  water  carried,  continually 
decreases  from  its  entrance  on  to  the  plain  of  Honan  till  its 
discharge  into  the  Gulf  of  Pechili.  For  a  like  reason  the 
mouth  is  effectually  closed  by  shifting  bars  and  sand-banks, 
so  that  no  sea-going  vessels  can  enter  the  channel. 

The  loess  is  in  most  descriptions  of  north  China  repre- 
sented as  affording  a  most  fertile  soil,  producing  without 
manure  abundant  crops,  and  being  answerable  for  the 
undoubted  productiveness  of  the  plains.  To  a  consider- 
able extent  this  is  true.  It  is  certain,  for  instance,  that 
the  use  of  manure  is  not  required  when  the  loess  forms 
the  superficial  soil,  and  the  materials  elsewhere  preserved 
with  care  for  the  fertilization  of  the  soil  are  in  the  north- 
ern provinces  of  China  relegated  to  the  baser  use  of  afford- 
ing argols  for  heating  purposes.  This  seeming  advantage 
has,  however,  to  be  dearly  paid  for  at  the  expense  of  the 
soil  itself ;  in  other  words  has  to  be  provided  out  of  the 


16  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND  COMMERCE 

capital  of  the  land.  The  absence  of  all  shelter  for 
the  surface,  whether  from  grass  or  trees,  results  in  so 
great  and  continuous  wear  of  the  surface  that  every  year 
a  new  deposit  is  exposed,  the  old  being  carried  down  to 
the  Gulf  of  Pechili  by  the  joint  action  of  the  winds  and 
running  streams. 

This  is  the  true  explanation  of  the  reputed  special  fer- 
tility of  the  loess.  The  area  of  land  available  for  culti- 
vation is  annually,  in  fact,  diminishing,  and  the  production 
of  useful  crops  becoming  from  year  to  year  less.  This 
recession  of  the  fertile  lands  is  very  noticeable  in  Shan- 
tung, especially  in  the  Tsinan  prefecture,  where  the  out- 
liers of  the  limestone  range  to  the  south  have  been  divested 
of  their  former  covering  of  loess,  which  has  left  behind  only 
the  nodules  once  contained  in  its  substance  to  mark  its 
former  extension.  The  bare  limestone  rocks  thus  exposed 
afford  only  a  precarious  existence  to  a  few  flocks  of  under- 
sized sheep  in  contrast  to  the  comparatively  rich  crops  that 
once  covered  their  surface.  A  partial  exception  to  this 
gloomy  condition  of  affairs  is  to  be  found  in  the  districts 
overrun  by  the  Yellow  River  in  its  change  of  bed  in  the 
year  1854.  During  the  wanderings  of  the  stream  in  search 
of  a  new  bed,  it  covered  the  low  country  with  fine,  almost 
impalpable  sand  to  a  depth  of  from  six  to  nine  feet.  For 
many  years,  till  in  fact  the  sand  commenced  to  break  up, 
the  whole  surface  of  the  country  was  little  better  than  a 
sandy  desert.  Of  late  years,  possibly  from  the  oxidation 
of  the  contained  apatites,  the  soil  has  commenced  to  bear 
heavy  crops  of  wheat.  Whether  this  new  condition  will 
prove  permanent  remains,  of  course,  to  be  seen. 

All  together  the  physical  aspects  of  north  China  are  in 
strangely  marked  contrast  with  those  prevailing  south  of 
the  Yangtse  divide,  and  the  contrast  has  been  marked  in 
all  previous  ages  by  an  equally  marked  historic  and  ethno- 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS 

logical  divergence,  only  of  recent  centuries  in  process  oi 
extinction. 

South  and  central  China  to  the  northern  verge  of  the 
basin  of  the  Yangtse  described  above,  afford  very  different 
conditions  from  those  prevailing  northward.  If  north 
China  belongs  geographically  to  central  Asia,  south 
China  as  clearly  must  be  relegated  to  an  Indo-Malayan 
continent.  We  have  here  left  the  peculiar  products  of 
the  temperate  zone,  and  its  physiography  and  products 
must  be  compared  with  those  of  the  subtorrid  zone  rather 
than  with  those  of  the  northern  continent.  Geologically 
the  intimate  structural  rocks  of  south  China  belong  to  the 
same  great  palaeozoic  series  as  those  of  the  north,  but 
their  subsequent  history  is  very  different.  While  north 
China  for  ages  was  submerged  under  the  great  Asiatic 
Mediterranean,  south  China  formed  part  of  the  Indo- 
Cliinese  continent.  In  consequence,  as  already  stated, 
the  upper  rocks,  which  in  the  northern  lands  were  pre- 
served from  subaerial  denudation,  were  in  the  south  in  a 
great  measure  removed,  and  hence  the  coal  measures 
which  in  one  case  form  so  marked  a  feature,  are  in  the 
other  either  altogether  absent,  or  occur  only  in  widely 
separated  localities,  and  are  in  no  instance  of  any  wide 
extent. 

Though  generally  agreeing  in  character,  south  China 
must,  however,  be  divided  into  at  least  three  distinct 
areas,  each  marked  by  its  own  peculiar  characteristics,  — 
that  of  the  north,  extending  from  the  west  of  Szechuan 
to  the  Yellow  Sea ;  the  great  red  sandstone  basin  of 
Szechuan,  once  forming  the  basin  of  a  self-contained  sea; 
and,  lastly,  the  elevated  plateau  of  Yunnan  and  its  exten- 
sion eastward  through  Kweichow  and  Kwangsi  almost  up 
to  the  verge  of  Kwangtung.  The  Meiling  range  with  its 
continuations  east  and  west  may  be  considered  as  forming 


18  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

the  boundary  line  between  the  first  and  third.  Of  these 
regions  Yunnan,  abutting  as  it  does  on  the  great  elevated 
region  of  Tibet  and  the  Himalayas,  is  marked  b}''  rich 
metallic  deposits,  amongst  which  are  to  be  noticed  cop- 
per, silver,  quicksilver,  and  probably  tin  and  antimony. 
Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  district,  except  in 
Szechuan,  metallic  and  other  mineral  deposits  occur  but 
sparingly. 

Szechuan,  from  its  peculiar  geological  formation  as  a 
once  isolated  sea,  has  its  own  marked  peculiarities,  the 
most  remarkable  of  which  are  its  extensive  brine  wells, 
from  which,  from  a  depth  often  exceeding  three  thousand 
feet,  salt  is  pumped  to  the  surface.  Petroleum  is  also 
met  with  in  quantities  in  connection  with  the  brine,  and 
will  probably  in  the  near  future  become  an  important 
trade  product.  Coal  is  also  found,  but  its  position  and 
quantity  have  not  been  satisfactorily  explored. 

From  its  much  more  southerly  situation,  as  well  as  from 
its  moister  climate  and  the  abundance  of  the  rainfall,  south 
China  is  very  favourably  placed  for  the  growth  of  rice. 
The  fact,  too,  of  the  soil  being  almost  exclusively  alluvial, 
and  subject  to  but  slight  denudation  compared  with  the 
loess  of  the  north,  adds  to  its  adaptability.  The  rich 
valley  bottoms  produce  heavy  crops  of  rice  and  other 
tropical  and  seraitropical  grains,  while,  taking  advantage 
of  the  plentiful  supply  of  water  furnished  by  the  perennial 
streams  everywhere  flowing  from  the  mountainous  uplands, 
the  sides  of  the  hills  are  for  the  most  part  terraced  up  to 
their  summits.  The  knowledge  of  Chinese  agriculture 
possessed  by  the  West  was  for  the  most  part,  in  the  first 
instance,  acquired  from  the  pictures  on  rice  paper  obtained 
at  Canton  during  the  early  days  of  European  intercourse, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  traditional  views  of  China 
and  the  Chinese  held  in  Europe  and  America,  till  within  the 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  19 

last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  have  been  mainly  founded  on 
China  as  seen  or  pictured  in  the  extreme  south,  and  mainly 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Canton.  It  was, 
indeed,  only  as  a  result  of  the  war  of  1859-1860  that 
north  China  was  opened  to  foreign  intercourse,  so  that  the 
want  of  appreciation  of  the  distinctions  between  north  and 
south  need  hardly  be  a  subject  for  wonder.  I  have  written 
above  of  the  absence  in  north  China  of  means  of  water 
communication,  or  indeed  of  any  proper  system  of  com- 
munication whatever.  This  is  curiously  exhibited  even 
in  the  common  speech.  The  Chinese  word  for  road  is  Zm, 
but  lu,  in  the  sense  of  a  road,  is  hardly  ever  used  north  of 
the  Yangtse.  In  the  south,  goods  and  agricultural  prod- 
uce are  carried  along  narrow,  made  roads  on  men's 
shoulders ;  in  the  north,  both  are  generally  conveyed  on 
carts  drawn  by  horses  or  mules,  but  the  route  on  which 
they  are  conveyed  is  known  as  tao,  literally  way;  the 
difference  is  noteworthy  as  exhibiting  the  distinction 
between  the  peoples.  These  ways  are  never  made  ;  they 
are  obliterated  every  year  when  the  farmer  ploughs  up  his 
fields.  In  the  spring  when  traffic  opens,  the  carters  make 
straight  tracks  across  the  ploughed  fields  toward  their 
destination  without  reference  to  the  wishes  of  the  farmer, 
and  every  year  the  struggle  between  cultivator  and  way- 
farer is  renewed,  the  farmer's  legal  right  to  plough  up  his 
land  being  balanced  against  the  carter's  equally  undoubted 
right  to  cross  the  land  in  any  direction  most  suitable. 
The  result  of  this  chaotic  condition  of  affairs  can  be  easily 
forecast.  Practically,  except  in  a  few  localities  where  the 
former  Emperors  constructed  special  highways  for  some 
particular  end,  there  are  no  roads,  but  merely  ways  in 
north  China.  This,  combined  with  other  retarding  influ- 
ences mentioned  above,  has  had  a  disastrous  effect  on  the 
well-being  of   the  land.      Toward  the  latter  end  of  the 


20  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

last  century  occurred  one  of  those  prolonged  series  of 
droughts  to  which  the  country  is  periodically  liable.  The 
sufferings,  which  under  ordinary  circumstances  must  have 
supervened,  were  aggravated  by  the  condition  of  the  com- 
munications, which  were  so  bad  that  it  was  impossible  to 
convey  relief  over  a  distance  of  more  than  a  few  miles,  the 
feed  of  the  animals  using  up  all  the  provisions  that 
could  be  carried.  The  result  was  that  in  certain  dis- 
tricts, especially  in  Shensi,  which  were  favoured  with  a 
sufficient  water-supply,  grain  was  so  abundant  as  to  be 
almost  a  drug,  whilst  in  others,  not  more  than  forty  or 
fifty  miles  distant,  the  unfortunate  people  were  suffering 
all  the  horrors  of  an  unrelieved  and  unrelievable  famine, 
owing  to  the  want  of  even  the  most  primitive  roads.  The 
effect  of  these  reiterated  famines,  which  culminated  in  the 
last  decade  of  the  century,  was  to  establish  a  curious 
traffic  in  children,  especially  infants ;  merchants  in  human 
flesh  regularly  traversed  the  famine  districts,  buying  chil- 
dren for  a  mere  song,  their  parents,  who  subsisted  on  wild 
roots  or  offal,  being  only  too  happy  to  accept  any  offer 
which  gave  a  chance  of  life  to  their  offspring.  It  will  be 
readily  recognized  that  these  conditions  paved  the  way 
for  the  entrance  of  railways  into  northern  China,  and  also 
account  for  the  fact  that  while  the  primitive  populations 
undoubtedly  view  with  jealousy  the  advent  of  the  for- 
eigner in  person,  the  construction  of  railways  has  for  the 
most  part  been  eagerly  welcomed. 

In  south  China,  owing  to  the  abundant  rainfall,  the 
lower  slopes  of  the  land  generally,  and  the  absence  of  the 
thick,  superficial  clothing  of  loess,  which  covers  with  a  pall 
of  peculiarly  penetrable  soil  the  entire  surface  of  the  north, 
the  rivers  flow  perennially,  and  when  they  attain  to  any 
size,  become  navigable.  The  main  work  of  transportation 
is  here  carried  on  by  water,  with  the  concomitant  advan- 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   OEIGINS  21 

tage  that  it  is  cheap.  Such  famines  as  occur  in  the  north 
are  here  practically  impossible,  as,  except  in  the  worst  of 
years,  food  can  always  be  obtained  for  money,  a  thing  not 
always  possible  in  the  worse-served  provinces  of  the  north. 

In  yet  another  feature  north  China  contrasts  badly  with 
the  south,  and  this  is  in  the  universal  want  of  timber. 
The  wasteful  habits  of  the  people  have  ended,  as  explained 
above,  in  the  entire  obliteration  of  the  forests  that  once 
clothed  the  rising  grounds  ;  the  want  is  very  severely  felt 
in  the  economic  condition  of  the  people,  and  is  of  course 
intensified  by  the  difficulties  of  carriage.  Wood,  even 
for  the  purpose  of  making  such  simple  articles  of  furni- 
ture as  are  needed  in  the  daily  life  of  the  most  primitive 
of  populations,  is  practically  not  to  be  had,  and  men 
are  put  to  strange  straits  accordingly.  The  ordinary 
dwellings  of  the  people  are  formed  of  mud  or  wattles, 
usually  without  windows,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  wood, 
and  frequently  without  doors  other  than  those  of  reeds. 
The  general  tone  of  the  inhabitants  is,  of  course,  lowered, 
owing  to  the  enforced  discomfort  of  their  homes,  and  so 
one  thing  reacts  on  another  toward  the  degradation  of 
the  people,  morally  as  well  as  physically.  If  it  be  true 
that  the  physical  causes  of  this  deterioration  are  for  the 
most  part  natural,  and  therefore  to  a  certain  extent  inevi- 
table, it  is  no  less  true  that  the  deterioration  of  both  land 
and  people  has  been  materially  aided,  if  not  directly 
brought  about,  by  the  folly  of  the  people  themselves. 

Nothing  practically  is  known  of  the  origin  of  the 
Chinese.  They  should  not  be  classed  with  the  so-called 
Mongols,  but  considered  as  more  probably  an  offshoot  of  the 
great  Malaysian  family.  The  origin  of  this  family  dates 
back  to  geological  rather  than  to  historical  times,  and  is 
anterior  to  the  present  distribution  of  continent  and  ocean. 
What  is  more,  the  continent  of  Asia  in  the  later  geological 


22  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ages  extended  far  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  included 
not  only  the  Malaj'-sian  Peninsula,  but  the  islands  of 
Sumatra,  Java,  Borneo,  the  Philippines,  and  probably  For- 
mosa. These  lands  were  inhabited  by  at  least  two  marked 
families  of  men,  — the  Melanesian  negroes,  and  the  Yellow 
Paresean  peoples.  The  latter  included  Indo-Chinese, 
Malaysians,  and  possibly  Malays,  as  well  as  the  inhabit- 
ants of  China  up  to  the  thirtieth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 
The  whole  of  northern  China  was  then  under  water  as 
far  as  the  highlands  of  Mongolia,  with  the  exception  of 
certain  islands,  represented  by  the  higher  lands  of  Szechuan 
and  parts  of  Shansi. 

The  Chinese  as  Chinese  are  thus  an  extremely  ancient 
people.  They  were  not  of  course  called  Chinese,  that  be- 
ing a  comparatively  modern  name,  but  consisted  of  many 
different  races  who  by  degrees  have  been  conquered  by  the 
more  northern  peoples.  Most  of  these  conquests  have 
taken  place  within  historic  times.  The  process  is  not 
yet  completed,  as  remains  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  are  to 
be  met  with  as  far  south  as  the  present  province  of  Fukien, 
and  in  many  parts  of  Kwangsi,  Yunnan,  Kweichow,  and 
Szechuan  they  still  constitute  the  major  part  of  the 
population. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  modern  term  of  Mongolian, 
as  applied  to  the  people  of  China,  is  in  every  respect  a 
misnomer,  and  has  materially  conduced  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  entire  Chinese  question. 

While  the  peoples  inhabiting  the  China  of  to-day  mainly 
derive  their  origin  from  a  southern  and  eastern  strain, 
the  earliest  inhabitants,  of  whom  traces  may  be  found  in 
northern  Asia,  belonged  to  a  distinct  family  of  men  who 
at  one  time  seem  to  have  extended  over  central  and 
northern  Europe,  and  for  whom,  following  the  lead  of 
Herodotus,  the  title  of   Arimaspians  may  be  suggested. 


PHYSICAL   FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  23 

Of  these  the  Huns,  who  during  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  overran  the  northern  part  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
may  be  taken  as  typical  representatives.  They  were 
swarthy  and  black-haired,  with  projecting  eyebrows,  round 
heads,  high  cheek-bones,  flat  faces,  retreating  foreheads, 
and  little  or  no  hair  on  the  surface  of  their  bodies  or  on 
their  chins.  They  seem  to  have  been  divided  into  two 
main  categories,  —  west  were  the  Oghuz,  in  part  the 
ancestors  of  the  Turks;  east  the  Ushwars,  from  whom 
descended,  amongst  others,  the  modern  Manchus  and 
Koreans. 

Between  the  two,  and  reaching  from  the  Danube  as  far 
east  as  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth  meridian,  was 
another  of  the  great  families  of  mankind,  more  distinctly 
differentiated  perhaps  than  either.  They  constituted  the 
great  blond  race  by  modern  ethnographers  classed  under 
the  general  title  of  Aryans,  a  title  in  some  respects  as 
misleading  as  the  other.  The  Aryans  formed  only  a  sub- 
section of  the  family,  which  consisted  of  three  main  divi- 
sions,—  the  Aryans  proper,  with  the  subsection  of  the  Ira- 
nians ;  the  Sarmatians ;  and  the  Gothic  or  Getic  people, 
with  its  subsection  of  the  German  tribes. 

All  these  three,  Malaysian,  Arimaspian,  and  Aryan,  have 
had  their  effect  in  moulding  the  great  mass  of  humanity 
which  makes  up  the  Chinese  nation  of  to-day.  To  under- 
stand this,  one  must  go  back  to  the  very  beginnings  of 
history,  or,  indeed,  beyond  history  proper,  to  the  border 
land  of  myth.  The  original  inhabitants  of  south  China, 
so  far  as  their  family  relations  can  be  traced,  belonged  to 
what  has  elsewhere  been  called  the  Pareaean,  with  the  in- 
tention of  including  under  that  term  not  only  the  southern 
Chinese,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  Indo-Chinese  Peninsula, 
and  those  extra-continental  peoples  who  by  some  ethnog- 
raphers have  been  called  Indo-nesians,  an  objectionable 


24  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

name  in  its  way.  But  these  people  have  been  mixed 
even  before  the  dawning  of  history  witli  external  tribes, 
Tibetans,  or  rather  Himalayic,  and  Manyak  (Mantsz). 
There  seem  traces  also  in  the  earliest  traditions  of  the 
peoples  of  the  Yangtse  basin  that  some  other  strain,  more 
or  less  remotely  connected  with  the  former  Aryans  of 
central  Asia,  must  have  sent  offshoots  as  far  as  the  great 
Yangtse  delta. 

The  great  Aryan  irruption  is  of  later  date.  The  tradi- 
tion survives  in  the  Shu  King  in  the  K'enli,  or  conquest  of 
Li.  This  resulted  in  the  Limin  (or  Aryan  men)  occupy- 
ing the  lands  of  the  northwest  of  China,  where  they 
formed  several  principalities,  the  chief  of  which  was  that 
of  the  Cheos.  The  story  forms  the  main  refrain  of  the 
so-called  "  Book  of  Odes,"  which  were  not  "  odes  "  at  all, 
but  were  a  selection  from  the  old  ballads  of  these  tribes. 
This  collection  is  due  to  the  intense  love  for  archaeology 
possessed  by  Confucius,  who  was  instrumental  in  recover- 
ing and  handing  down  to  posterity  not  only  these  ballads, 
but  the  annals  of  his  native  state  Lu,  forming  now  a  part 
of  Shantung.  A  close  comparative  study  of  the  ballads 
shows  not  only  that  their  original  language  and  mythology 
were  closely  connected  with  those  of  the  Sanscrit-speaking 
peoples  of  northwestern  India,  but  also  that  their  social 
status  and  their  institutions  were  almost  identical. 

To  trace  these  peoples  still  further  one  will  have  to  go 
to  a  still  older  (in  parts)  record,  the  Zend  Avesta,  the 
scripture  of  the  old  Parsees.  The  opening  chapter  de- 
scribes the  happy  realms  of  King  Yi-ma,  the  Airyano 
Vaejo,  situated  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Oxus  and 
Jaxartes.  Yi-ma  became  proud,  and  as  a  punishment  was 
attacked  by  the  Azhi  Dahaka,  the  Oghuz  tribes  of  north- 
ern Asia,  who  drove  the  original  inhabitants  from  their 
.ancient  seats.     There  can  still  be  traced  many  of  them,  — 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  25 

the  Geta,  the  ancestors  of  the  Goths  and  the  Germanic 
peoples ;  the  Sarmatians,  or  Kimmerians,  who  form  the 
majority  of  the  Slavonic  peoples  of  Russia,  Bohemia,  etc. ; 
the  Salyans  who,  as  Hellenes,  settled  in  ancient  Greece; 
and  the  Iranians  and  Aryans  who  migrated  to  Persia  and 
northwest  India  respectively.  It  was  a  branch  of  the  last 
who,  under  the  name  of  Cheos,  settled  in  northwest  China 
and  gradually  spread  to  southern  China  some  fourteen  to 
fifteen  hundred  years  before  Christ. 

These  last  brought  with  them  their  language,  their  ideas 
of  government,  and  their  religion,  and  it  was  by  them  that 
civilization,  such  as  is  seen  to-day,  was  introduced  into 
China.  They  were  probably  few  in  number  compared 
with  the  old  Paresean  inhabitants,  and  they  in  conse- 
quence gradually  lost  their  physical  characteristics.  Origi- 
nally they  were  a  fair-haired  people,  to  which  there  are 
many  allusions  in  the  old  ballads  of  the  Book  of  Odes, 
but  by  admixture  with  the  native  tribes  they  gradually 
lost  their  distinctive  features.  How  fair  they  were,  and 
how  advanced  their  art,  the  following  lines  closely  trans- 
lated from  the  ancient  Book  of  Ballads  will  indicate :  — 

"  Fair  was  her  hair ;  in  folds  her  garments  hung  — 
All  gem-embroidered  o'er  her  shoulders  flung. 
Our  lady  bright,  of  Tsi's  great  house  the  pearl, 
Fit  bride,  I  ween,  were  she  for  Wei's  proud  earL    . 
Fairest  of  all  amid  her  damsels  fair, 
Well  mated  with  a  prince  of  g^ts  so  rare, 
Companion  fittest  for  a  king. 

"  Taper  her  fingers  as  the  sprouting  leek ; 
Like  clotted  cream  her  swiftly  mantling  cheek ; 
Her  shoulders  fairer  than  the  cynthia's  sheath  ; 
Than  melon  seeds  more  white  her  pearly  teeth. 
Her  brow  cicala-like ;  eyelashes  fine 
As  silk  moth's  horns  her  orbs  outline ; 
Well  limned  her  sparkling  eye." 

The  Shih  Jen.     Shi  King,  I.  v.  3 ;  st.  1,  2. 


26  CHINA   IN  LAW  AND   COMMEECE 

At  first  they  called  themselves  Aryan  men,  but  the 
descendants  whose  language  had  become  corrupted  pro- 
nounced this  Lai  man,  and,  forgetful  of  its  old  meaning, 
gradually  transformed  it  into  "  black-haired  man." 

The  Lis,  modern  Limin,  were  not,  however,  destined  to 
be  left  in  peace  in  the  new  land  which  they  had  made  their 
home.  Their  old  enemies,  as  has  been  seen,  were  known 
among  the  ancient  Aryans  as  Azhi  Dahaka,  the  "Gnawing 
Snake  " ;  in  the  new  land  their  memory  is  preserved  in  the 
name  of  Dik,  by  which  they  are  known  in  the  earliest 
Chinese  records.  Of  these  the  most  formidable  tribe  was 
that  which  in  modern  Chinese  appears  as  the  Hiung  Nu, 
but  which  anciently  called  itself  the  Kara  Nirus.  From 
about  500  B.C.  to  200  a.d.  this  people  established  an  em- 
pire on  the  northwest  of  China,  which  contended  with  the 
settlers  on  equal  terms,  and  more  than  once  almost  suc- 
ceeded in  crushing  out  the  new  Chinese  civilization. 
These  people  were  Turks  of  the  purest  type,  and  spoke  a 
language  closely  allied  to  that  of  the  Osmanlis  of  to-day. 

These  Turkish  tribes,  Oghuz  and  Ushwars  in  type,  after 
the  break-up  of  the  great  Chinese  dynasty  of  Han,  220 
A.D.,  when  the  Chinese  Empire  split  into  three  or  more 
contemporaneous  states,  short-lived  and  continually  at 
strife  among  themselves,  gradually  obtained  the  ascendency, 
politically  and  socially,  in  northern  China.  In  the  south- 
ern portions  of  the  Empire  these  dynasties  continued  to 
be  ruled  by  more  or  less  pure  Chinese  sovereigns,  while 
in  the  north  the  foreign  element  became  stronger  and 
stronger.  Toward  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  the 
greater  part  of  China  is  found  submitting  to  the  sway 
of  a  Turkish  dynasty,  known  as  the  house  of  Tobar, —  To- 
bar  in  Turkish  meaning  earth-sprung,  aboriginal.  This 
rule  lasted  until  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  and  was 
instrumental    in    profoundly   modifying  the    nation,   its 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  27 

cult,  arts,  and  language.  Modern  China  indeed  may  be 
said  to  have  had  its  birth  in  the  year  618  A.D.,  when  a 
Chinese  by  name  Li  Shimin  was  instrumental  in  founding 
the  dynasty  of  T'ang,  placing,  as  according  to  Chinese 
principles  of  parental  authority  he  was  compelled  to  do, 
his  father  on  the  throne  as  Kao  Tsu.  Under  the  new  rule 
China,  practically  as  now  known,  was  welded  into  one 
powerful  state,  for  a  time,  until  the  rise  of  the  Caliphs,  the 
most  powerful  in  the  world.  The  influence  of  China,  in- 
deed, in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh  and  the  early  part 
of  the  eighth  century,  was  materially  instrumental  in 
checking  the  eastward  spread  of  Mohammedan  arms, 
which  at  that  period  seemed  not  unlikely  to  spread  to 
the  shores  of  the  Yellow  Sea. 

All  this  while  there  was  no  mention  of  the  Mongol 
state  nor  of  the  Mongol  people.  The  first  mention  in  his- 
tory of  the  Mongols,  according  to  Howarth,  is  during  the 
T'ang  dynasty  in  the  seventh  century.  They  were  never 
a  people  in  the  ethnological  sense,  having  been  formed 
out  of  roving  Arimaspian  and  Getic  tribes  by  an  outcast 
from  the  Wei  Empire  of  northern  China  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, who  took  the  name  in  Chinese,  of  Mukula,  which 
was  pronounced  by  his  followers  as  Mughul,  the  original 
form  of  modern  Mongol.  This  sept  first  came  into  notice 
as  the  Jwan  Jwan  of  the  Chinese,  the  Avars  of  Gibbon, 
who  after  their  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Tughul  Turks 
in  the  sixth  century  emigrated  to  the  steppes  of  southern 
Russia  and  grievously  troubled  the  Greek  Emperor  of  the 
day.  With  China  they  had  little  connection  until  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  under  their  great  leader  Jenghiz 
Khan  they  attacked,  and  under  his  grandson  finally  con- 
quered, China,  where  for  one  hundred  years,  1260-1360, 
they  formed  the  ruling  race.  They  have  left  little  impress 
on  the  land  or  people,  and  this  is  true  with  reference  to 


28  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

all  the  conquering  tribes  who  have  settled  in  China. 
They  have  been  absorbed  by  the  Chinese,  adopting  their 
manners,  customs,  and  laws. 

It  may  not  be  known  to  the  general  reader  that  in  1686 
A.D.,  by  an  edict  of  the  Emperor  Kang-hi,  all  the  ports  of 
China  were  open  to  every  nation  which  chose  to  visit 
them  for  trade,  but  were  all  closed  again  in  1709.  In 
1692  A.D.,  the  Emperor  Kang-hi  also  issued  an  edict  tolerat- 
ing the  Christian  religion.  This  was  in  consequence  of 
the  great  persecution  that  the  missionaries  were  subjected 
to  by  the  mandarins.  The  report  of  the  Board  of  Rites 
was  most  favourable  to  the  character  of  all  the  Christians 
then  resident  in  China.  This  report  states  that  the 
Empire  was  indebted  to  them  for  the  many  and  sincere 
efforts  which  they  had  rendered  during  the  civil  and 
foreign  wars.  Moreover,  he  adds,  "the  Europeans  are 
tranquil,  and  they  do  not  excite  troubles  in  the  provinces. 
Besides,  this  doctrine  has  nothing  in  common  with  the 
false  and  dangerous  sects  of  the  Empire,  and  their  maxims 
do  not  lead  people  to  sedition." 

While  the  later  policy  of  China  has  been  one  of  exclu- 
sion, the  earlier  records  prove  that  formerly  China  was  in 
the  van  of  progress,  and  eagerly  welcomed  foreign  inter- 
course. In  the  early  days  of  the  Empire  under  the  dy- 
nasty of  the  Hans,  in  the  second  century  B.C.,  the  great 
Emperor  Wu  Ti  sent  the  celebrated  traveller  Chang  K'ien 
to  open  communications  with  central  Asia.  The  story 
has  been  told,  but  will  bear  repetition ;  it  reads  almost 
like  a  romance,  as  written  down  contemporaneously  from 
the  words  of  the  traveller  himself  in  the  Shi-ki  or  "  His- 
torical Record,"  a  work  which  has  often  been  compared 
with  that  of  Herodotus,  except  that  for  trustworthiness 
and  historical  acumen  the  Chinese  book  is  immeasurably 
superior. 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES   AND   ORIGINS  29 

Along  the  north  and  northwest  frontiers  of  the  new 
Empire  stretched  the  realm  of  the  Hiung  Nu  Turks,  at 
the  time  under  the  rule  of  a  sultan  called  Maotun,  a 
sovereign  well  jfitted  to  rank  amongst  the  great  founders 
of  empire.  Half  a  century  before,  the  Hiung  Nu  had 
conquered  a  people  called  the  Yuehti,  and  had  driven  the 
remnant  across  the  Pamirs  into  the  land  of  Baktria,  at 
the  time  under  the  rule  of  the  successors  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  Here  after  some  preliminary  struggles  they 
had  coalesced  with  the  Tokhars,  had  overcome  the  Greeks, 
and  founded  a  new  state,  known  in  history  as  that  of  the 
Indo-Skyths.  Wu  Ti  had  conceived  the  design  of  opening 
communications  with  them  and  founding  a  formidable 
coalition  against  the  Hiung  Nu  Turks.  The  envoy  se- 
lected was  Chang  K'ien,  who  accordingly  set  out  about 
139  B.C.  from  Sacheo  in  Kansu.  He  was  attended  by 
an  escort  becoming  his  rank,  but  his  attendants  were 
attacked  and  either  killed  or  dispersed,  and  Chang  K'ien 
himself  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Turks  and  held  in  de- 
tention for  ten  years.  He  was,  however,  treated  with 
consideration,  married  a  Turkish  wife,  and  became  a 
master  in  the  language.  His  accounts  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  these  people  have  all  the  charm  of  first- 
hand authority.  The  vigilance  of  his  keepers  having  be- 
come relaxed,  he  contrived  to  escape,  and  nothing  daunted 
by  the  past,  he  determined  to  carry  out  the  object  of  his 
mission.  The  first  important  place  arrived  at  was  Yar- 
kand,  which  he  found  a  prosperous  city.  The  prestige  of 
the  Turks  was,  however,  so  strong  that,  although  the 
leaders  listened  to  him  with  interest,  they  declined  to  mix 
themselves  up  in  any  warlike  enterprise.  From  there  he 
proceeded  to  Kashgar  with  like  results.  From  Kashgar, 
reversing  the  track  of  the  Polos  just  fifteen  hundred  years 
later,  he   crossed   the    Pamir,  and   arrived   amongst   the 


30  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Yuehti,  of  whom  he  gave  a  highly  interesting  account, 
both  political  and  ethnographical.  Although  his  propos- 
als were  taken  into  favourable  consideration,  they  were 
eventually  declined  from  prudential  motives.  Every 
courtesy  and  consideration  was  shown  to  the  envoy,  and 
facilities  were  given  for  the  collection  of  information  of 
all  sorts.  From  Baktria  Chang  K'ien  went  on  to  Parthia, 
with  which  powerful  state  he  succeeded  in  opening  diplo- 
matic relations,  which  continued  for  many  centuries,  and 
were,  indeed,  only  finally  put  an  end  to  by  the  Moham- 
medan conquests  in  western  Asia.  In  the  time  of  the 
later  Hans,  in  the  first  century  A.D.,  the  feats  of  Chang 
K'ien  were  equalled  under  the  celebrated  Pan  C'hao,  and 
his  equally  celebrated  lieutenant,  Kan  Ying.  Pan  C'hao 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  opening  up  communications 
with  Rome  herself,  and  Kan  Ying  had  actually  succeeded 
in  getting  as  far  on  the  route  as  Hormuz.  Here,  however, 
Parthian  and  Arabian  jealousy  came  into  play,  and  the 
shipmen  on  one  pretext  or  another  succeeded  in  preventing 
his  embarkation. 

In  the  southwest  the  Cliinese  were  equally  desirous  of 
entering  into  relations  with  Burma  and  India,  but  met 
with  petty  obstructions,  which,  however,  did  not  prevent 
eventually  pretty  close  political  relations  being  established. 
In  97  A.D.,  I  find  an  embassy  from  the  King  of  Ceylon 
arriving  at  court  with  presents  of  ivory,  water  buffaloes, 
and  humped  oxen,  and  in  120  A.D.  another,  accompanied 
by  a  number  of  conjurers  from  the  West.  They  called 
themselves  men  of  the  western  sea,  Europeans,  from 
Tatsin,  i.e.  Syria  or  the  Roman  Empire.  In  acknowl- 
edgment the  Chinese  Emperor  conferred  on  the  King  of 
Ceylon  the  honorary  rank  of  Tuwei,  as  in  modern  days 
Queen  Victoria  conferred  on  the  Chinese  minister,  Lo 
Funglo,  the   honorary  rank  of  K.C.B.     It  was   also  by 


PHYSICAL  FEATURES  AND   ORIGINS  31 

this  route  that  about  GO  A.D.,  Buddhism,  in  consequence 
of  a  dream  of  the  Emperor  Ming  Ti,  was  first  introduced 
into  China.  More  directly,  in  166  A.D.,  the  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius  sent  a  commercial  mission  to  China, 
which  was  repeated  in  the  year  265  a.d. 

Omitting  the  intervening  dates,  during  which  embassies 
were  not  infrequent  from  western  Asia,  I  find  in  1253  a.d. 
a  mission  arriving  from  Louis  IX  of  France,  but  violent 
polemical  discussions  with  Mohammedans  and  Nestorians 
caused  it  to  be  dismissed  with  the  caustic  reply :  "  God 
has  given  the  Scriptures  to  the  Christians.  That  holy 
Book  does  not  permit  them  to  vilify  one  another,  nor  for 
the  sake  of  gain  to  abandon  the  paths  of  justice.  Go  and 
practise  its  precepts." 

In  1260  A.D.  two  Venetian  nobles,  named  Polo,  visited 
China  with  a  cargo  of  merchandise.  They  were  well 
received  by  the  Emperor  Kublai  Khan,  who  proposed  send- 
ing back  with  them  an  ambassador  to  the  Pope  to  induce 
the  Pope  to  send  him  Christian  instructors.  The  ambassa- 
dor died  on  the  journey. 

In  1276  A.D.  the  two  Venetians  returned  to  China  and 
were  again  well  received.  They  brought  letters  from 
Gregory  X.  The  son,  young  Marco  Polo,  became  the 
confidant  of  the  Emperor  for  seventeen  years  in  various 
offices  of  trust.  It  was  during  this  time  that  he  acquired 
the  information  which  was  afterward  put  into  book  form 
and  given  to  the  world  under  the  title  of  "  Marco  Polo's 
Travels  in  China,"  and  which  has  been  rendered  invalu- 
able to  students  of  Chinese  history  by  the  annotations  and 
notes  of  the  late  Sir  Henry  Yule. 

Diplomatic  relations  between  China  and  Portugal  began 
in  1518  A.D.,  which  resulted  in  the  Portuguese  settlement 
at  Macao.  In  1624  a.d.  the  Dutch  gained  a  settlement 
on  the  island  of  Formosa,  where  the  Chinese  carried  on  an 


32  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

extensive  commerce  with  them.  It  was  during  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1625  a.d.,  that  the  Chinese  Emperor  T'ien  K'i 
called  to  his  aid  the  Christian  missionaries  and  a  number  of 
Portuguese  in  repelling  a  Tartar  invasion.  The  superior 
knowledge  of  these  foreigners  in  the  use  of  artillery 
enabled  the  Chinese  to  drive  the  Tartars  temporarily 
away,  but  not  until  the  invaders  were  within  seven  miles 
of  Peking.  Soon  afterward  the  mother  of  the  Emperor, 
his  chief  wife,  eldest  son,  and  twenty  ladies  of  rank 
at  court  received  Christian  baptism.  The  Empress  was 
baptized  Helena. 

While  the  preceding  and  subsequent  intercourse  between 
China  and  foreign  nations  was  going  on,  the  Chinese  never 
departed  from  their  policy  of  learning  all  they  could  with- 
out giving  information  about  their  Empire.  But  under 
the  pressure  of  western  civilization  China  is  being  gradu- 
ally opened  to  foreign  intercourse,  until  now  it  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  examine  the  machinery  of  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment and  learn  much  of  its  mechanism.  If  the  origin  of 
the  Chinese  is  still  doubtful,  the  geography  of  the  country 
they  inhabit  and  the  laws  by  which  they  are  governed 
have  been  made  reasonably  certain  by  the  research  of 
scholars. 

Note.  —  I  am  indebted  to  T.  W.  Kingsmill,  Esq.,  one  of  the  best 
authorities  on  China,  for  the  material  information  of  this  chapter,  and 
it  is  pleasant  to  acknowledge  his  friendly  interest  in  other  regards. 


CHAPTER   II 

GOVERNMENT 

According  to  the  theory  of  the  government  of  China 
the  Emperor  is  an  absolute  ruler.  His  power  over  the 
lives  and  property  of  his  subjects  is  unlimited.  He  dis- 
poses of  all  places  in  the  Empire,  and  punishes  as  he  may 
decree.  He  can  appoint  to,  or  remove  from,  office,  impose 
taxes  at  will,  confiscate  or  appropriate  property  without 
compensation,  and  there  is  no  appeal  against  his  decision. 
No  other  ruler  possesses  as  despotic  power  over  as  many 
people,  but  there  is  no  ruler  who  is  more  careful  than  the 
Emperor  of  China  to  use  that  power  only  as  modified  by 
the  customs  of  his  Empire. 

In  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  Empire  the 
principle  is  recognized  that  laws  are  the  particular  institu- 
tion of  the  legislator,  while  customs  are  the  institution  of 
a  nation  in  general,  and  that  nothing  tends  more  to  pro- 
duce a  revolution  than  an  attempt  to  change  a  custom  by 
a  law.  In  a  despotic  empire  there  are  generally  but  few 
laws  that  can  be  so  called.  There  are  manners  and  cus- 
toms, and  if  these  are  overturned,  the  result  may  be  a 
state  of  anarchy.  The  Emperors  of  China  have  respected 
and,  more  or  less,  been  governed  by  the  above  maxim;  and 
hence  the  government  has  been  so  reluctant  to  disregard 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  fact  that  custom  enters  so 
materially  as  a  determining  factor  into  the  administrative 
system  of  China,  it  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  the  dis- 
s>  33 


34  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

tinction  between  the  unit  of  that  system  and  the  unit  of 
the  Chinese  Empire. 

Politically  the  government  of  China  turns  on  the  recip- 
rocal duty  of  parents  and  children.  The  Emperor  is  the 
head  of  the  government,  but  the  family  is  its  base,  and  it 
is  not  from  the  central  head  at  Peking,  but  from  the  family 
unit  that  the  building  of  the  governmental  fabric  proceeds. 
In  the  family  life  may  be  seen  the  larger  life  of  the  Empire, 
and  it  is  the  family  unit  that  gives  the  semblance  of  unity 
to  the  Empire. 

It  is  to  the  single  family  that  the  number  of  families  is 
added  which  makes  the  village,  and  it  is  from  the  group 
thus  formed  that  a  head-man  (ti-pao')  is  selected  by  the 
inhabitants  as  practically  the  arbiter  of  disputes  and  the 
dispenser  of  justice.  But  the  custom  which  gives  to  each 
village  the  privilege  of  selecting  its  own  head-man,  while 
it  generally  exempts  such  head-man  from  official  interfer- 
ence, can  still  hold  him  accountable  for  the  peaceful 
behaviour  and  order  of  the  inhabitants  of  his  village. 
Thus  it  appears  that  by  the  additions  to  the  family  unit 
a  small  principality,  as  it  were,  is  formed,  which  custom 
has  invested  with  the  right  of  local  self-government,  and 
through  that  medium  a  democratic  element  is  introduced. 

As  indicated,  the  inhabitants  and  head-men  of  villages 
are  not  beyond  official  influence,  for  it  is  sometimes  re- 
quired, after  the  head-man  of  a  village  has  been  selected, 
that  he  receive  the  confirmation  of  the  district  magistrate 
(che-hieri)  before  entering  upon  his  duties,  and  there  are 
instances  where  the  principal  landowners  have  become 
security  for  the  head-man's  proper  discharge  of  his  func- 
tions. This  precaution,  taken  by  the  district  magistrate, 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  duties  of  a  head-man  occasion- 
ally have  relation  to  the  government  of  the  district,  and  it 
is  an  assistance  to  the  magistrate  to  communicate  with 


GOVERNMENT  35 

him.  When  that  necessity  arises,  the  communication  is 
addressed  not  directly  to  the  head-man,  but  to  him 
through  the  local  constable  {po-fing),  and  the  constable 
and  head-man  are  the  medium  through  which  any  definite 
action  may  be  taken  and  announced. 

The  family  is  the  unit  of  the  Empire,  the  district 
magistrate  the  unit  of  the  administrative  system  and  the 
beginning  of  the  official  hierarchy.  From  the  village  to 
the  town  is  one  step  upward,  and  from*  the  town  to  the 
district  (hieri)  is  another,  a  district  usually  including 
several  villages  and  towns,  and  being  in  area  about  the 
size  of  the  average  English  county. 

Although  the  district  (hien)  is  the  lowest  division  of 
the  administrative  system,  and  the  magistrate  who  pre- 
sides over  it  is  the  lowest  grade  officer  of  the  civil  hier- 
archy, the  district  is  nevertheless  the  most  important 
division,  and  to  a  large  majority  of  the  people  the  magis- 
trate is  the  embodiment  of  all  the  essentials  of  govern- 
ment. He  is  looked  to,  as  the  guardian  and  protector  of 
the  personal  and  property  rights,  with  the  degree  of  affec- 
tion and  confidence  with  which  a  son  should  look  to  his 
father.  In  Chinese  official  documents  the  district  magis- 
trate is  frequently  referred  to  as  the  father  and  mother  of 
his  people.  And  as  the  head  of  a  household  can  make  it 
happy  or  unhappy,  according  to  his  disposition,  so  the 
rule  of  a  good  or  a  bad  magistrate  promotes  order  or  dis- 
order among  the  people  of  his  district. 

The  eighteen  provinces  of  China  proper  are  divided  into 
thirteen  hundred  districts  (hiens)^  but  the  duties  pertain- 
ing to  each  district  are  not  divided  among  separate  offi- 
cials, as  is  usual  in  western  countries.  The  magistrate  of 
a  district  is  invested  with  both  criminal  and  civil  func- 
tions ;  he  is  the  keeper  of  prisons,  the  overseer  of  the  public 
roads,  the  registrar  of  land,  the  famine  commissioner,  and 


36  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

the  ofl&cer  of  education  ;  a  catalogue  of  duties,  and  such  a 
variety  as  unmistakably  show  the  importance  of  this  officer 
and  his  intimate  relations  to  the  people  of  a  district. 

While  in  theory  the  duties  of  a  magistrate  (che-hien) 
are  not  divided,  and  he  is  held  directly  responsible  for 
their  performance,  yet  in  practice  he  has  quite  a  staff  of 
assistants ;  and  the  necessity  for  a  large  staff  is  evident. 
No  one  official  could  perform  duties  so  numerous  and 
varied  without  ai^istants.  Of  the  assistants  to  the  magis- 
trate, the  law  secretary  (li-waii)  and  the  revenue  secretary 
(tu-she)  are  the  two  most  important.  The  next  in  impor- 
tance are  the  official  secretary  and  the  correspondence  sec- 
retary (king-lih  and  chao-mao)^  whose  duty  it  is  to  draft 
despatches,  reports,  and  other  official  documents,  and  after 
these  two  secretaries  come  the  tax  collectors.  The  duties 
of  the  numerous  clerks  about  a  magistrate's  yamen  are  in- 
dicated by  the  divisions  in  which  they  respectively  serve. 
The  tenure  of  some  of  these  is  determined  by  that  of  the 
magistrate,  but  there  are  a  few  who  continue  in  office 
through  all  changes.  To  enable  the  magistrate  better  to 
perform  his  duty  as  an  educational  officer,  he  is  assisted 
by  one  or  two  educational  mandarins,  who  are  stationed  in 
every  district  city,  and  by  whom  the  primary  examina- 
tions of  candidates  for  the  public  service  are  conducted. 
Many  of  the  subordinates  of  the  magistrate,  called  ex- 
pectant officials,  derive  their  appointment  from  the  central 
government  and  have  the  rank,  in  consequence,  of  man- 
darins, and  are  thus  fitted  by  social  standing  to  appear  at 
the  table  of  the  magistrate  himself.  Among  these  subor- 
dinates, other  than  those  previously  mentioned,  there  are, 
in  the  judicial  section,  the  assistant  district  magistrate 
(Men  cKeng)^  corresponding  in  some  respects  to  an  old 
county  court  judge,  the  deputy  assistant  magistrate  (chu 
pu)y  and  the  sub-district  deputy  magistrate  («em  Men), 


GOVERNMENT  37 

who  frequently  live  near  the  Men  yamen  if  not  in  it. 
Their  duties  are  minimized  or  increased  according  to  the 
activity  and  cupidity  of  the  district  police  inspector,  who 
is  also  governor  and  superintendent  of  the  district  jail. 

The  district  treasurer  (ku-ta-she)  advises  the  magistrate 
from  time  to  time  as  to  the  state  of  the  local  exchequer 
and  the  trade  in  different  parts  of  the  district,  so  that  at 
any  time  a  new  likin  station  may  be  set  up  and  thus 
increase  the  money  passing  through  official  hands. 

The  educational  duties  are  supervised  by  a  director  of 
studies  Qciao-yu)  and  a  sub-director  of  studies  (%em  tao)^ 
the  more  onerous  part  of  whose  duties  it  is  to  superintend 
the  literary  examinations  and  register  the  candidates 
entering  for  the  same.  They  hold  a  sinecure  post  as  cura- 
tors of  the  temples  of  Confucius  and  of  Wisdom  and 
Learning,  and  as  searchers  of  the  classics. 

There  are  also  attached  to  the  district  salt  departments 
seven  petty  officials,  but  these  do  not  act  as  checks  upon 
each  other.  They  are  :  (1)  assistant  salt  controller 
(jyun-tung)^  who  may  often  be  the  district  treasurer  as 
well ;  (2)  deputy  assistant  salt  controller  (jyun-fu)  ;  (3) 
salt  department  inspector  (ti  hi)  ;  (4)  sub-assistant  salt 
controller  (^yun-pau) ;  (5)  salt  department  receiver 
(jyenko-sze-ta-she)  ;  (6)  salt  department  examiner  (^pi- 
yen-so-ta-she) ;  and  (7)  the  unclassed  examiner  of  the 
joint  salt  and  tea  departments  (j/en-cK'a-ta-she).  Each 
of  these  is  supposed  to  keep  accurate  checks  of  the  salt 
transactions,  but  a  search  through  the  archives  of  a  dis- 
trict yamen  would  not  reveal  a  return  of  one-tenth  of  the 
salt  transactions  that  pass  through  the  palms  of  these 
officials. 

The  yamen  runners  are  an  anomalous  body,  made  up  of 
detectives,  constabulary,  yamen  messengers,  and  barrators. 

After  the  district  comes  the  department  or  prefecture 


38  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

(/tt),  which  is  the  second  territorial  division  for  adminis- 
trative purposes.  The  department  includes  several  dis- 
tricts, and  is  presided  over  by  an  officer  known  as  the 
prefect.  There  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
departments,  but  these  vary  in  size,  though  the  average 
throughout  the  eighteen  provinces  is  about  six  districts  to 
a  department.  The  department  is  the  earliest  division  of 
the  administrative  system,  and  the  civilian  who  stands  at 
the  head  of  it  may  be  addressed  as  the  judge,  or  as  the 
prefect  (cJie-fu).  The  official  residence  of  the  prefect  is 
in  a  subject  district  city,  which  is  then  known  as  the 
departmental  city  (/m).  The  prefectural  office  is  the  court 
of  appeal  for  suitors  from  the  district  magistrate.  The 
prefect  (che-fu)  seldom  decides  any  of  these  cases  himself, 
but  shifts  such  duties  on  to  the  first-class  assistant  depart- 
ment magistrate  (chow  tung')^  who  answers  in  some  degree 
to  the  British  high  sheriff,  and  the  second-class  assistant 
department  magistrate  (chow  pan)^  who  may  be  likened 
to  the  deputy  sheriff,  each  with  magisterial  power.  Then 
comes  the  prefectural  jail  governor  and  controller  of  police 
(li-muh)^  who  acts  as  crown  prosecutor  and  in  subordinate 
sheriffal  functions. 

The  third  territorial  division  for  administrative  pur- 
poses is  the  circuit,  which  is  formed  by  the  grouping 
together  of  several  departments.  There  are  about  eighty 
circuits,  and  each  is  presided  over  by  an  officer  whom  the 
Chinese  designate  as  intendant  of  circuit  (fen  sun  tao  or 
taotai^,  but  who  is  better  known  to  foreigners  as  the  tao- 
tai.  To  the  intendant  of  circuit  appeals  lie  from  the 
departmental  courts,  but  customarily  the  intendant  per- 
forms very  few  judicial  or  fiscal  duties,  being  rather  a 
superintending  administrator  of  general  affairs.  This 
officer  usually  resides  in  one  of  the  departmental  cities, 
unless  such  be  outstripped  in  wealth  and  population  by  one 


GOVERNMENT  89 

of  the  district  cities,  in  which  case  the  ofi&cial  residence  is 
in  the  latter.  The  more  important  are  those  which  in- 
clude the  treaty  ports.  As  stated,  the  intendant  is  known 
to  foreigners  as  the  taotai,  and  the  foreign  consuls  at  the 
treaty  ports  communicate  with  the  taotai  on  subjects  relat- 
ing to  foreign  business,  or  when  there  arise  issues  between 
their  compatriots  and  the  Chinese.  The  intendant  is  the 
lowest  official  exercising  a  direct  ex-officio  authority  over 
the  military  in  the  event  of  local  risings,  but  he  is  a  very 
important  officer  in  connection  with  foreign  affairs  at  the 
treaty  ports,  and  has  it  in  his  power  to  facilitate  or  delay 
the  commercial  interests  at  such  a  port.  At  the  port  of 
Shanghai  there  is  a  mixed  court  in  which  a  Chinese  mag- 
istrate and  a  foreign  consular  official  preside,  and  appeals 
lie  from  that  court  to  the  taotaVB  court,  but  when  the 
taotai  sits  judicially,  a  foreign  consul-general  sits  with  him 
"  in  the  interest  of  justice  and  to  watch  the  proceedings." 
A  further  territorial  division  for  administrative  pur- 
poses is  the  province  (sJieng^.  It  has  been  stated  that 
there  are  eighteen  provinces  constituting  China  proper, 
over  each  of  which  an  officer  presides  with  the  title  of 
governor  (sun-fu).  The  governor  is  the  manager  of  all 
the  affairs  of  a  province  on  behalf  of  the  central  govern- 
ment. His  official  residence  is  in  the  chief  city  of  the 
province,  which  is  then  called  the  provincial  capital. 
Immediately  under  the  governor  there  are  five  officials 
whose  authority  extends  to  all  parts  of  the  province,  but 
only  in  matters  relating  to  that  branch  of  public  business 
with  which  each  is  officially  intrusted.  These  are  the 
superintendent  of  provincial  finances  (^fan-tai),  the  pro- 
vincial criminal  judge,  the  provincial  educational  exami- 
ner, the  salt  controller  {yen-yung  she-sze'),  and  the  grain 
intendant  (liang-tao).  These,  with  the  governor,  form 
the  bureau  of   provincial  administration.     The  superin- 


40  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

tendent  of  provincial  finances,  or  provincial  treasurer, 
receives  the  taxes  from  the  district  magistrates,  and 
accounts  for  them  to  the  governor  first,  and  then  to  the 
fiscal  board  at  Peking.  He  is  financial  commissioner, 
lieutenant-governor,  head  of  the  provincial  civil  service, 
and  treasurer  of  the  provincial  exchequer.  To  the  pro- 
vincial criminal  judges  (ngan-cha  she-sze)  the  district 
magistrates  deliver  all  criminals  sentenced  by  them  to 
banishment  or  death,  whose  cases  are  then  reexamined 
and  reports  made  first  to  the  governor,  and  then  to  the 
criminal  board  at  Peking.  The  provincial  educational 
examiner  visits  the  departmental  cities  in  the  province  at 
stated  periods  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  prefect,  conducts, 
in  the  examination  hall,  the  last  of  the  series  of  primary- 
examinations,  after  which  a  legally  fixed  number  of  candi- 
dates from  the  district  attain  the  lowest  or  highest  degree. 
The  provincial  educational  examiner  corresponds  with  the 
ritual  and  educational  board  in  Peking,  but  his  cor- 
respondence, as  well  as  that  of  the  other  two  officials 
named  above,  is  of  a-  routine  and  formal  nature  ;  and  they 
do  not  communicate  at  all  with  either  the  Cabinet  Council 
or  the  Emperor. 

The  territorial  divisions  which  have  been  described  will 
appear  to  have  been  arranged  to  supply  the  governor 
(sun-fu)  with  a  sufficient  number  of  judicial  administra- 
tive officials  to  transact  all  the  business  within  his  juris- 
diction. The  provincial  capital  being  in  the  chief  city 
of  a  department,  with  the  common  boundary  lines  of  two, 
and  sometimes  three,  contiguous  districts  running  through 
it,  the  governor  is  thus  placed  in  a  favourable  geographical 
position  also  for  the  convenient  transaction  of  provincial 
business.  As  the  district  magistrate  (che-hien)  is  the  last 
connecting  link  between  the  throne  and  the  people,  so  the 
governor  (^sun-fu)  is  the  essential  link  between  the  cen- 
tral and  the  administrative  system. 


GOVERNMENT  '  41 

Up  to  about  three  hundred  years  ago  the  governor  was 
the  officer  of  highest  rank  in  a  province,  but  subsequently 
two  or  more  provinces  have  been  united  under  the  execu- 
tive authority  of  an  officer  styled  the  governor-general 
(tsung-tuJi),  but  better  known  to  foreigners  as  the  viceroy. 
The  grade  of  a  viceroy  is  a  shade  higher  than  that  of  a 
governor,  though  he  is  not  always  regarded  as  the  superior 
official,  for  in  many  instances  neither  of  the  two  can  move 
without  "  moving  "  for  the  consent  of  the  other.  Both  are 
cautious  in  issuing  commands,  and  when  a  command  is 
issued,  it  is  usually  qualified  with  the  words :  "  But  you 
will  at  the  same  time  await  the  instructions  of  his  Excel- 
lency the  Governor,"  or  "  his  Excellency  the  Viceroy,"  as 
the  case  may  be.  The  same  caution  is  used  when  the 
viceroy  and  the  governor  jointly  memorialize  the  Emperor. 
Both  may  join  in  the  memorial,  but  if  the  subject  of  it  is 
one  of  great  delicacy,  and  there  should  be  doubt  as  to  how 
it  might  be  viewed  by  the  Emperor,  the  drafter  and  signer 
are  distinguished  thus :  "  I  may  add  that  your  servant  the 
Viceroy,"  or  "your  servant  the  Governor,  is  the  drafter 
of  this  memorial."  If  either  the  viceroy  or  the  governor 
is  a  Manchu,  the  word  "slave"  is  used  instead  of  "ser- 
vant "  in  referring  to  such  official.  The  governor-general 
is  ex  officio  a  president  of  the  Board  of  War  and  a  junior 
president  of  the  Court  of  Censors. 

In  theory  and  in  practice  the  viceroy  is  really  the 
superior  of  the  governor,  and  it  is  seldom  that  the  latter 
antagonizes  the  wishes  of  the  former.  In  a  few  of  the 
provinces  the  viceroy  administers  affairs  without  the 
intervention  of  the  governor.  The  province  of  Chili, 
for  example,  is  under  the  direct  and  exclusive  adminis- 
tration of  a  viceroy.  At  Nanking  and  Canton  the  vice- 
roys of  the  provinces  in  which  those  cities  are  situated 
supervise  the  salt  gabelle,  have  control  of  the  military 


42  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

affairs,  and  are  the  responsible  agents  for  informing  the 
central  government  on  subjects  bearing  on  the  relations 
between  China  and  western  nations.  To  assist  the  viceroy 
in  his  various  duties  there  is  a  special  bureau  {yung  wuh 
chi)  of  the  nature  of  a  military  secretariat,  and  his  per- 
sonal staff  consists  of  an  adjutant  {chung  han)  with  mili- 
tary rank,  and  a  body  of  subordinate  officers,  military  (wun 
sun  pu)  and  civil  (wen  sun  pu^-,  whose  duties  are  more  or 
less  clerical. 

The  main  idea  that  runs  throughout  the  entire  pro- 
vincial organization  is  that  each  province  exists  as  an 
independent  unit  and  is  sufficient  unto  itself.  There  is 
a  resemblance  between  the  provinces  of  China  and  the 
states  of  the  American  union  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation, and  for  practical  purposes  the  provinces  are  as 
self-existent  as  were  the  states  under  those  articles.  The 
government  of  a  province,  like  that  of  a  village,  is  uni- 
formly free  from  outside  interference.  In  its  adminis- 
trative orbit  the  movement  is  autonomous.  The  whole 
machinery  of  the  provincial  government,  educational, 
fiscal,  penal,  and  judicial,  is  practically  independent. 
Under  the  authority  of  the  governor,  the  revenue  of  the 
province  is  administered,  its  defence  is  provided  for,  com- 
petitive examinations  are  held,  and  other  functions  of  gov- 
ernment are  exercised.  The  central  government  refuses 
to  interfere  and  is  silent,  except  when  in  a  critical  mood. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  viceroy,  although  the  superior  colleague 
of  a  governor,  takes  part  in  the  provincial  administration. 
But  there  is  a  military  governor  for  each  province,  a  fea- 
ture copied  from  the  Manchurian  provincial  system,  and 
known  as  the  Tartarate  organization.  It  is  this  organiza- 
tion which  specially  appertains  to  the  Manchu  dynasty, 
and  in  every  province  of  the  Empire  there  has  been  placed 
a  military  official  of  the  nationality  of  the  dynasty,  whose 


GOVEKNMENT  48 

rank  the  imperial  edicts  recognize  as  the  first  in  grade, 
such  edicts  being  addressed  to  the  Tartar  general,  the 
governor-general,  and  the  governor. 

The  appointment  of  the  officers  of  the  Empire  is  the 
prerogative  of  the  Emperor,  but  after  a  governor  has  been 
appointed  over  a  province,  if  he  is  reasonably  prompt  in 
paying  the  requisition  made  against  his  province,  and  in 
preserving  the  peace  therein,  he  need  not  apprehend  inter- 
ference by  the  central  authority.  And  as  a  governor  has 
the  privilege  of  memorializing  the  Emperor  in  his  own 
name,  and  therefore  of  directly  reporting  upon  the  conduct 
of  the  subordinate  officials,  his  authority  in  the  province 
is  admittedly  supreme  for  the  ends  of  practical  adminis- 
tration. 

In  the  outline  presented  of  the  territorial  administrative 
system,  the  military  establishments  of  the  provinces  have 
not  been  fully  referred  to.  There  is  a  military  establish- 
ment in  each  province,  as  well  as  a  civil  and  educational 
one,  and  although  the  higher  civil  officials  may  in  a  certain 
degree  take  cognizance  of  military  affairs,  yet  the  military 
establishment  is  under  the  command  of  the  Tartar  general 
of  the  province.  The  rank  of  the  Tartar  general  is  equal 
to  that  of  the  viceroy  and  may  be  a  shade  higher,  as  this 
military  official  is  a  check  on  the  viceroy  and  enjoys  the 
privilege  of  writing  direct  to  the  Cabinet  Council  of  the 
Emperor.  If  it  be  remembered  that  the  reigning  family 
in  China  is  Manchu,  it  is  obvious  that  the  object  in  placing 
a  Tartar  general  in  each  province,  and  making  him  supreme 
in  military  affairs,  is  to  safeguard  the  interest  and  influence 
of  that  family. 

The  administration  of  the  central  government  is  in- 
trusted to  two  councils.  The  one  is  the  Grand  Secreta- 
riat (^Nui  KoK),  and  the  other  the  Grand  Council  (^Kiun  Ki 
CKu).     Each  of  these  councils  has  its  president,  its  vice- 


44  CHINA   m   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

president,  and  subsidiary  boards  concerned  with  the  man- 
agement of  separate  departments. 

The  Grand  Secretariat,  or  Imperial  Cabinet  QNui  KoK)^ 
is  of  greater  antiquity  than  the  Grand  Council,  and  con- 
tinued the  most  important  division  during  early  times. 
It  is  composed  of  four  members  (ta-hioh-she)^  two  being 
Manchus  and  two  Chinese,  with  one  Manchu  and  one 
Chinese  assistant  secretary.  As  aids,  there  are  ten 
learned  men  selected  from  the  Hanlin  College,  with  the 
addition  of  about  two  hundred  secretaries  selected  at 
pleasure.  The  duties  of  the  Grand  Secretariat  are  such 
that  the  members  sustain  the  closest  official  relations  to 
the  Emperor.  They  submit  to  him  all  papers  relating  to 
the  affairs  of  the  Empire,  and  receive  from  him  necessary 
instructions  in  accordance  with  which  official  edicts  are 
prepared.  They  keep  the  seals  used  by  the  departments 
and  for  documents,  and  are  the  officials  whom  the  Empe- 
ror most  frequently  consults  and  in  whom  he  chiefly  con- 
fides. Their  duties  are  to  deliberate  on  affairs  of  state, 
to  declare  the  imperial  will,  and  to  aid  the  Emperor  in 
governing  his  subjects. 

The  Grand  Council  or  Imperial  Privy  Council  (^Kiun  Ki 
CKu)^  of  later  date  than  the  Grand  Secretariat,  was  pro- 
vided for  in  1730.  The  members  are  generally  chosen 
from  among  those  of  the  Grand  Secretariat,  the  presidents 
and  vice-presidents  of  the  boards,  and  the  principal  officers 
of  all  the  courts  in  the  city.  It  is  before  the  Grand 
Council  that  the  heads  of  the  departments  appear  when 
the  Emperor  is  to  be  consulted.  It  is  less  ornamental 
than  the  Grand  Secretariat,  but  now  more  important,  hav- 
ing more  onerous  duties  to  discharge,  and,  at  times,  framing 
the  edicts  for  the  imperial  signature.  When  the  Grand 
Council  was  formed,  the  intention  was  to  make  it  a  far 
more  numerous  body  than  it  has  ever  been,  but  the  inten- 


GOVERNMENT  45 

tion  was  abandoned,  because  it  was  thought  that  fewer 
members  would  oftener  speak  with  one  voice,  which  would 
give  it  more  influence.  At  present  there  are  five  mem- 
bers (^Kiun  Ki  Ta  QKeti)^  who  also  hold  other  substantive 
offices,  and  sixty  secretaries  (chang  Mng).  In  theory 
both  the  Grand  Secretariat  and  the  Grand  Council  have 
daily  audiences  with  the  Emperor.  Practically  such  audi- 
ences are  necessary  to  facilitate  the  transaction  of  business, 
and  in  recent  times  the  Grand  Council  has  superseded  the 
Grand  Secretariat  in  business  importance,  and  has  become 
the  imperial  chancery  or  court  of  appeals.  Under  the 
two  councils  there  are  six  administrative  boards  (iiwpu). 
Each  board  has  an  organized  staff  of  clerks  and  is  other- 
wise equipped  for  the  business  it  was  formed  to  transact. 

The  Civil  Board  (Li  Pu)  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
mandarin  or  official  class,  appointing  and  discharging 
them,  regulating  their  duties,  pay,  promotion,  the  assign- 
ment of  work,  and  the  granting  of  leave.  Whenever  the 
Emperor  confers  posthumous  honours  or  rewards,  they  are 
distributed  by  this  board. 

The  Board  of  Revenue  (Hu  Pu)^  as  its  name  implies, 
receives  the  contributions  from  the  provinces  and  disburses 
the  payments  of  the  administration.  It  is  this  board 
which  exercises  the  confidential  prerogative  of  ascertain- 
ing the  names  of  the  Manchu  women  who  are  eligible  for 
the  imperial  harem.  It  combines  the  functions  of  collect- 
ing money  and  selecting  women,  which  naturally  give  it  a 
peculiar  influence  and  a  far-reaching  importance.  This 
board  has  about  fourteen  subordinate  departments  to  assist 
in  the  supervision  of  the  revenue  of  the  provinces. 

The  Board  of  Rites  (Xz  Pu)  is  probably  the  most  im- 
portant in  this  branch  of  the  administrative  system.  The 
supervision  of  the  ceremonial  and  ritual  observances,  which 
form  a  distinguishing  feature  of  the  national  character, 


46  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

constitutes  the  main  function  of  this  board.  The  Book  of 
Rites  contains  fourteen  volumes  and  is  the  statutory  law 
for  the  board.  The  ceremony  for  feast  days  is  minutely 
provided  for,  and  even  the  cut  of  a  court  jacket  is  strictly 
described,  as  well  as  the  etiquette  relating  to  subjects  of  a 
military  and  civil  character.  There  is  no  act  or  omission 
that  will  bring  a  Chinese  official  so  quickly  under  censure 
as  to  be  careless  in  official  ceremony.  On  court  occasions 
or  when  the  Emperor  is  travelling,  to  violate  any  require- 
ment of  the  Book  of  Rites  invariably  results  in  the  dismissal 
of  the  offending  officer. 

The  Board  of  War  (^Ping  Pu)  should  be  among  the  first 
in  importance,  but  it  has  never  succeeded  in  preparing  the 
Empire  for  defence  against  external  foes.  Owing  to  the 
peculiar  autonomy  of  the  provinces,  each  having  its  own 
military  organization,  when  it  has  any  at  all,  the  board  is 
in  great  measure  precluded  from  extending  its  authority 
with  the  view  of  centralizing  the  military  system.  The 
garrison  at  Peking  is  a  distinct  military  organization,  inde- 
pendent of  the  control  of  the  board,  as  is  also  the  banner 
army  of  the  Manchus  and  Mongols.  The  board  appears 
powerless  to  organize  an  effective  army.  There  is  no  uni- 
form system,  no  single  idea  governing,  —  there  is,  in  fact, 
an  entire  absence  of  cooperation.  During  the  several  years 
preceding  the  China-Japan  War,  China  expended  millions  of 
dollars  to  equip  an  army  and  a  navy,  but  when  the  war  was 
declared  and  the  result  of  the  vast  expenditure  put  to  the 
test,  it  was  proved  wholly  ineffectual.  It  was  not  because 
military  material  was  wanting  in  the  Chinese  character,  but 
because  there  was  no  organization,  no  rallying-point  in  the 
military  system,  no  one  directing  mind,  no  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  soldier  in  his  superior  officers.  Before  there 
can  ever  be  a  military  organization  in  China  deserving  the 
name,  there  must  be  a  thorough  change  in  the  very  thouglit 


GOVERNMENT  47 

and  habits  of  the  Chinese.  And  how  can  China  have  an 
organized  army  when  the  Board  of  Rites  can  intervene 
and  prescribe  the  discipline  and  etiquette  of  the  military 
forces  ? 

The  Board  of  Punishment  (Ring  Pu)  might  be  more 
aptly  called  the  court  of  appeal.  With  the  Board  of  Pun- 
ishment are  associated  at  certain  periods  of  the  year  the 
censors  and  the  court  of  revision,  and  when  the  three  are 
combined,  they  form  a  supreme  court  for  the  cognizance  of 
capita]  offences.  At  other  periods  of  the  year  there  are 
six  minor  courts  associated,  and  this  association  forms  the 
judicial  bench  at  Peking  for  revising  the  punishments  ad- 
judged in  the  provinces  before  these  are  submitted  to  the 
Emperor  for  his  approval.  This  board  marks  all  changes 
made  in  the  written  law  and  the  supplementary  enact- 
ments, and  prepares  all  new  editions  of  the  Penal  Code  for 
publication,  regulates  prisons,  and  has  attached  to  it  a 
treasury  which  is  supplied  by  fines  on  jailers  and  others. 

The  Public  Works  and  expenses  are  prerogatives  of  the 
Board  of  Works  (JKung  Pu).  Whatever  relates  to  plans 
for  buildings  of  wood  or  earth,  to  the  form  of  useful 
instruments,  to  the  law  for  stopping  up  and  opening  chan- 
nels, and  to  ordinances  for  constructing  the  mausoleums 
and  temples,  and  to  the  mint,  is  under  the  government 
of  the  Board  of  Works,  directed  by  two  vice-presidents 
(^sJie-lang)  with  two  subordinate  superintendents.  The 
duties  of  the  board  are  miscellaneous,  but  nowhere  in 
China  does  it  seem  that  the  board  is  energetic  and  obser- 
vant in  attending  to  its  duties.  No  city  in  the  world 
could  be  in  a  worse  sanitary  condition  than  Peking,  where 
the  board  sits,  and  in  travelling  in  China  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  no  attention  is  given  to  the  repair  of  the  highways  by 
land  and  water.  The  Grand  Canal,  a  monument  of 
Chinese  skill  and  industry,  has   been   neglected   to   the 


48  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

extent  of  greatly  impairing  its  usefulness  and  defeating 
measurably  the  object  of  the  comprehensive  mind  that 
conceived  its  necessity  as  a  means  of  advantage  to  the  peo- 
ple. The  masonry  that  once  lined  its  sides  for  miles  and 
made  the  canal  a  thing  of  beauty  as  well  as  usefulness  has 
fallen  away,  and  the  granite  blocks  are  boated  off  and  sold 
at  liberty.  During  the  two  hundred  years  and  more  the 
Tartars  have  ruled  China  the  roads,  bridges,  and  canals 
have  been  shamefully  neglected.  The  casual  observer  who 
makes  a  trip  to  the  interior  of  the  Empire  sees  all  around 
him  the  evidences  of  decay  in  those  works  which,  under 
native  rulers,  showed  the  perfection  of  mechanical  skill. 

Before  1860  there  was  no  department  of  the  govern- 
ment of  China  charged  with  the  transaction  of  business 
relating  to  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  It  was  not 
the  policy  of  the  present  dynasty  of  China  to  have  any 
such  intercourse,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  avoid  and  dis- 
courage it.  The  pressure  of  events,  however,  compelled 
the  abandonment  of  this  exclusive  policy,  and  in  1860  a 
special  council  memorialized  the  Emperor  upon  deciding 
how  foreign  affairs  should  be  conducted  and  upon  provid- 
ing for  a  department  to  that  end.  In  consequence  of  the 
memorial  a  decree  was  issued,  in  January,  1861,  command- 
ing the  formation  of  the  department  so  generally  known 
to  foreign  governments  as  the  Tsung-li  Yamen.  Notwith- 
standing the  decree,  the  unwillingness  to  depart  from  the 
cherished  policy  of  exclusion  is  made  plain  by  the  consti- 
tution of  this  new  department,  which  is  not  so  much  a 
separate  organization  as  the  colour  of  a  cabinet  formed 
by  the  admission  of  members  of  other  departments.  The 
unwillingness  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  for  thirty 
years  after  the  organization  of  the  Tsung-li  Yamen  its 
name  does  not  appear  in  the  official  records  of  the  Chinese 
government.     When  first  organized,  the  Tsung-li  Yamen 


GOVERNMENT  49 

consisted  of  three  members,  but  soon  afterward  another 
was  admitted,  until  subsequent  admissions  raised  the  num- 
ber to  eleven.  This  department  is  closely  identified  with 
the  Grand  Council,  and  some  of  the  members  of  the  latter 
are  also  members  of  the  former.  As  the  taotai  of  a  circuit 
is  in  closer  official  relationship  with  foreign  officials  than 
any  other  officer  of  the  provincial  administration,  so  in  the 
central  administration  the  Tsung-li  Yamen  is  the  depart- 
ment with  which  the  foreign  ministers  at  Peking  conduct 
business  on  all  subjects  relating  to  intercourse  between 
China  and  their  respective  countries.  The  name  of  the 
Tsung-li  Yamen  has  been  changed  to  that  of  the  Wai 
Wu  Pu  as  more  significant  of  the  cause  of  its  origin  and 
scope. 

It  is  possible  that  in  theory  the  system  of  balances  and 
checks,  which  obtains  between  the  departments  of  the 
central  and  provincial  governments,  has  been  thought 
out  and  applied  with  unsurpassed  acuteness,  for  there  is 
no  government  in  which  there  is  more  interdependence, 
checking  important  action  by  one  department  without 
the  cooperation  of  other  departments. 

In  outlining  the  duties  of  the  Board  of  War  it  was  indi- 
cated that  the  garrison  at  Peking  is  a  distinct  military 
organization  independent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  board. 
The  same  principle  of  independent  organization  applies  to 
the  civil  government  of  the  capital.  Although  Peking  is 
situated  within  the  province  of  Chili,  over  which  a  viceroy 
rules  without  having  to  recognize  a  governor  as  a  colleague, 
there  is  a  civil  government  for  Peking  just  as  the  District 
of  Columbia  creates  a  special  sphere  for  Washington  City 
outside  of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  This  is  also  the  case 
with  reference  to  the  northern  or  mountainous  half  of 
Chili  which  lies  beyond  the  Great  Wall  and  which  is  under 
the  superintendency  of  Jehol  and  the  military  governor  of 


50  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Chengte-fu.  The  district  of  Peking  and  that  lying  be- 
yond the  Great  Wall  are  strongly  Mongol  and  bear  such  a 
relation  to  China  as  does  Algiers  to  France  or  Poland  to 
Russia.  There  are  no  special  regulations  provided  for  the 
government  of  the  dependent  territories  of  Mongolia  and 
Tibet,  nor  for  the  aboriginal  tribes  scattered  along  certain 
parts  of  the  frontier  of  the  Empire.  The  region  to  the 
north  of  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  as  far  as  the  forty- 
second  parallel,  and  from  the  Yin  Shan  range  on  the  west 
to  the  Palisade  on  the  east,  though  originally  Mongo- 
lian and  ruled  by  Mongolian  princes,  has  become  Chinese, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  administration  has  been  section- 
ally  added  to  Shansi  and  Chili.  These  new  parts  of  the 
Chinese  system  have  the  Mongol,  the  Manchu,  and  the 
Chinese  rule  of  administration.  The  central  Chinese 
authority  has  no  direct  control  over  the  local  Mongol 
inhabitants,  who  are  tried  by  their  own  Mongol  officers 
when  offending  against  the  law\ 

There  remains  at  present  no  trace  of  the  once  famous 
Mongolian  army  as  a  regular  force.  Among  this  nomadic 
people  there  is  a  clanship  with  some  of  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  feudalism,  as  the  Mongol  princes  have  body- 
guards, numbering  from  two  hundred  to  two  thousand, 
according  to  their  respective  wealth  and  the  necessities  for 
the  protection  of  their  palaces.  The  Chinese  and  Manchu 
officials,  civil  and  military,  deal  only  with  Chinese  settlers, 
and  fill  the  office  of  policemen  and  tax  collectors  among 
the  colonists. 

Manchuria  is  the  ancestral  home  of  the  dynasty  that 
now  rules  China.  It  is  attracting  world-wide  attention  be- 
cause of  the  war  between  Japan  and  Russia,  but  before  the 
war  began  mercantile  ventures  were  fast  bringing  it  under 
the  keen  eye  of  business.  The  facilities  for  trade  and  the 
perseverance  of  the  modern  merchant  disclosed  the  invit- 


GOVERNMENT  51 

ing  business  possibilities  of  Manchuria  long  before  the 
Russians  and  the  Japanese  pitched  their  military  tents  in 
its  fertile  plains  and  along  its  mineral  mountain  sides.  In 
this  connection  a  special  reference  to  the  government  of 
the  three  provinces  into  which  Manchuria  is  divided,  will 
be  in  order. 

The  provinces  are  known  in  Chinese  as  the  three  eastern 
provinces  {Tung  San  Sheng).  The  two  most  northerly 
of  these  provinces,  Heh-lung-kiang,  or  Tsitsihar,  and 
Kirin,  are  organized  upon  a  dominating  military  basis, 
while  the  southern  province,  Sheng  King,  which  includes 
the  Manchu  capital,  Mukden  or,  in  Chinese,  Feng-t'ien, 
approximates  in  its  administration  nearer  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  eighteen  provinces  of  China  proper.  This 
southern  province  is  governed  for  the  Emperor  by  five 
boards  at  Mukden,  instead  of  six  as  at  Peking.  Each  of 
these  boards  is  presided  over  by  a  vice-president  who,  in 
his  own  special  department,  is  a  colleague  of  the  head  of 
the  province,  the  governor  or  Tartar  general  (tsiang 
kun).  In  theory  such  is  the  system  of  the  government  of 
Manchuria,  but  in  practice  the  Tartar  general,  as  the  mili- 
tary head,  has  never  given  up  the  supreme  control,  and 
the  real  authority  over  the  five  boards  is  centred  in  him. 
But  the  Tartar  general  does  not  often  interfere  with  the 
boards  in  their  administration  of  matters  of  a  civil  nature. 
It  is  only  when  such  matters  clash  with  his  military  func- 
tions that  he  exercises  his  supreme  authority.  His  rank 
entitles  him  to  rights  and  dignities  similar  to  those  per- 
taining to  the  office  of  viceroy  in  China  proper,  and  to 
others  somewhat  higher.  No  troops  can  move  into  or  out 
of  Manchuria  proper  without  the  consent  of  the  Tartar 
general,  unless  by  the  express  direction  of  the  Emperor, 
the  military  organization  being  distinct  from  that  of 
China.      It  is  composed  of  about  two  thousand  Chinese 


62  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

and  forty  thousand  Manchus,  and  officered  mostly  by 
Chinese  princes.  These  officers  are :  lieutenant-general 
(tu  tung^  ;  deputy  lieutenant-general  (/m  tu  tung)  ;  ad- 
jutant i^yin  wu  tsan-ling')  ;  colonel  Qdao-ki  tsan-ling^  ; 
lieutenant-colonel  (/w  hiao-ki  tsan-ling')  ;  adjutant  {yin 
wu  chang  king)  ;  assistant  adjutant  (wei  yin  wu  chang 
king).,  usually  selected  from  among  the  lieutenants;  cap- 
tain (tso-ling)^  generally  a  hereditary  position  ;  lieutenant 
(hiao-ki-Mao)\  and  sub-lieutenant  (wei  shu  hiao-ki-hiao). 

The  civil  administrative  and  executive  departments  are 
a  shade  different  from  those  of  China  proper,  and  this 
difference  may  be  attributed  to  the  desire  and  natural 
pride  of  the  dynasty  in  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the  clan 
of  its  birth. 

The  first  most  striking  difference  is  the  increased  power 
of  the  governor-general  over  that  of  his  prototype  in  the 
eighteen  provinces.  Then  there  is  the  elimination  of  the 
Board  of  Civil  Rites,  whose  duties  have  been  delegated  to 
the  Board  of  War,  a  significant  indication  of  the  value 
placed  upon  civil  rights  in  the  realm  of  military  environ- 
ment. 

The  civil  governor  (fu  yin)  has  not  the  power  of  his 
namesake  in  the  eighteen  provinces.  Under  the  civil 
governor  there  is  a  civil  vice-governor  (/w  cheng),  who 
is  practically  without  power,  but  ex-officio  provincial 
examiner  in  literary  examinations.  Coequal  with  the 
civil  governor,  in  power  at  least,  is  the  divisional  com- 
mander or  military  deputy  lieutenant-governor,  probably 
one  of  the  hardest-worked  officials  in  the  provinces.  In 
his  duties  he  is  assisted  by  the  various  garrison  comman- 
dants or  military  commandants  {cheng  show  yu).,  who 
administer  military  law,  disburse  military  funds,  and 
maintain  the  peace  in  these  districts,  but  do  not  interfere 
with  ordinary  civil  affairs.    These  are  left  to  the  local  vice- 


GOVERNMENT  53 

presidents  or  deputy  vice-presidents  of  the  five  boards 
(Wu  Pu)-,  acting  as  colleagues  of  the  military  com- 
mandant. The  second-class  military  commandant  (^fang 
show  yu)  looks  after  the  military  administration  within 
the  garrison  alone. 

As  in  China  proper  each  province  is  supposed  to  be 
divided  into  prefectures  (/«*)  ;  independent  sub-prefec- 
tures {ting)  ;  independent  departments  (^chili  chow) ; 
departments  under  a  prefecture  {chowy,  and  districts 
{Men)  subject  to  a  prefecture  or  an  independent  sub- 
prefecture.  But  this  subdivision  does  not  exist  for  prac- 
tical purposes  in  the  two  northern  provinces  and,  to  a 
limited  extent  only,  in  the  southern.  The  city  of  Muk- 
den is  not  under  a  che-fu  as  would  be  the  case  in  China, 
but  an  official  of  greater  dignity  and  similar  duties, 
called  fu  yuen^  cooperates  with  one  of  the  board  of  the 
metropolitan  department.  Even  the  chow  and  Men 
officials  enjoy  a  more  dignified  position  than  such  officers 
in  China.  There  is  this  peculiar  similarity,  however,  in 
official  life,  both  civil  and  military,  in  Manchuria  and 
China,  and  that  is  the  invariable  tendency  to  shift  duties 
and  responsibilities  on  subordinate  officials. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  the  civil  element 
of  government  is  slower  in  entering  into  the  Manchurian 
system  which,  in  the  beginning,  was  founded  purely 
on  the  military  unit,  as  contradistinguished  from  that 
of  China,  which,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  is  based  on  the 
family  unit,  the  civil  idea.  The  needs  of  the  government 
of  China  were  so  pressing  that,  in  1876,  the  administra- 
tive ordinance  of  that  year  was  introduced  in  a  practical 
manner  into  the  Manchurian  administrative  system.  As 
the  result  of  the  introduction  of  the  ordinance  of  1876, 
Manchuria  now  has  civil  yamem  and  customs-collecting 
stations,    and    the    wealthy   merchants    and    prosperous 


64  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

farmers  are  experiencing  some  of  the  burdens  of  govern- 
ment. But  this  civil  element  has  been  so  ingeniously 
introduced  as  not  to  cause  friction.  It  shows  that  the 
Chinese  are  not  only  absorbing  the  Manchus  with  their 
customs,  but  are  gradually  supplanting  the  system  of 
government  to  which  the  Manchus  owe  their  authority  in 
China. 

As  there  are  in  theory  checks  of  a  more  or  less  general 
character  on  all  the  departments  of  the  central  and  pro- 
vincial governments,  which  tend  to  make  one  dependent 
upon  the  other,  and  which  prevent  any  very  important 
action  without  cooperation,  there  is  also  in  theory  one 
check  upon  the  whole  system  of  government,  and  this 
check  was  intended  to  be  absolutely  free  from  all  influ- 
ences. 

There  are  about  fifty-six  men  distributed  throughout 
the  Empire  and  privileged  to  inquire  into  and  report 
direct  to  the  Emperor  upon  whatever  may  impress  them 
as  not  comporting  with  dignity  and  justice  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  government.  These  men  are  the  censors 
of  the  Empire.  They  hold  their  positions  for  life.  They 
are  not  allowed  to  hold  any  other  office  nor  to  enjoy 
emoluments  other  than  such  as  strictly  pertain  to  their 
own  positions.  When  they  have  accepted  employment  as 
censors,  they  cannot  change  it  for  any  other,  however  ad- 
vantageous the  preferment,  and  it  is  intended  that  thus  all 
temptation  may  be  removed.  They  scrutinize  the  private 
and  public  lives  of  all  the  officials,  and  that  of  the  Emperor 
is  not  exempt  from  their  scrutiny.  These  censors  can  be 
very  troublesome  when  so  inclined.  Although  the 
Emperor  is  absolute,  he  would  think  carefully  before  he 
ventured  to  interfere  with  a  censor  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty.  Even  should  a  censor  look  into  the  imperial 
sanctum,  and  confront  the  Emperor  himself  with  a  memo- 


GOVERNMENT  55 

rial  in  which  his  social  and  official  failures  were  set  forth, 
it  would  probably  be  prudent  for  the  imperial  authority  not 
to  undertake  any  very  serious  act  of  resentment.  By  the 
fundamental  organism  of  the  Empire  a  censor  is  exempt 
from  punishment,  though  there  are  instances  where  some 
have  been  not  only  suspended  and  discharged  for  a  too- 
searching  inquiry  and  the  exercise  of  too  great  a  freedom 
in  reporting  results,  but  have  disappeared  mysteriously. 
During  the  rule  of  the  present  Dowager  Empress  more 
than  one  censor  has  had  quite  an  uncomfortable  experi- 
ence when  venturing  too  far  upon  the  freedom  of  his 
office.  In  fact,  the  Dowager  Empress  has  her  own  way 
about  "  things  Chinese,"  and  when  she  decrees,  the  whole 
of  China  obeys.  She  often  appears  to  be  about  the  only 
man  in  China. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  I  wrote  that  the 
Emperor  Hwang  Li  of  China  was  an  absolute  ruler,  but 
after  describing  the  machinery  of  the  Chinese  government, 
a  fuller  reference  to  the  power  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
restrictions  which  custom  has  placed  upon  that  power,  will 
illustrate  the  force  of  public  opinion  in  this  despotic 
government. 

It  is  believed  that  the  Chinese  have  an  authentic  politi- 
cal history  of  more  than  four  thousand  years,  but  in  the 
national  mind  the  Emperor  does  not  appear  as  a  sovereign 
by  divine  right.  True,  he  is  known  to  his  subjects  as  the 
son  of  heaven,  and  his  authority  is  unlimited,  except  by 
divine  right,  but  in  the  history  of  China  it  is  taught  that 
no  one  has  a  hereditary  divine  right  to  the  throne.  Both 
in  theory  and  practice  the  primary  claim  to  the  successor- 
ship  is  given  by  the  deathbed  or  the  testamentary  nomi- 
nation of  the  reigning  sovereign,  and  it  is  not  positively 
known  during  the  reign  of  any  one  sovereign  who  will  be 
his  successor.     It  is  recorded  that  in  the  two  great  his- 


66  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

torical  musters,  the  revered  ancient  monarchs,  Yao  and 
Shun,  each  passed  over  his  own  son,  because  accounted 
unworthy,  and  nominated  a  stranger.  If  an  Emperor 
wishes  to  establish  his  divine  right,  he  must  prove  it  by 
his  good  works ;  he  must  govern  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  taught  in  the  writings  of  the  sages,  or  his 
subjects  reserve  the  right  to  replace  him  by  a  successor 
who  will. 

A  high  authority  states  that  the  Chinese  had  never  heard 
of  the  name  "  republic  "  before  their  intercourse  with  the 
Hollanders.  They  could  not  comprehend  how  a  state 
could  be  properly  governed  without  a  king,  and  even  now 
there  is  not  a  word  or  character  in  the  Chinese  language 
which  means  or  stands  for  liberty.  But  while  opposed 
to  a  republican  form  of  government,  it  must  not  be 
inferred  that  the  Chinese  will  tolerate  tyranny  or  oppres- 
sion. They  confer  upon  their  Emperor  absolute  power, 
but  argue  that  when  they  are  oppressed,  it  does  not  pro- 
ceed from  the  absolute  power  of  the  Emperor,  but  rather 
from  a  want  of  proper  appreciation  of  his  high  duties,  and 
that  when  the  Emperor  is  thus  guilty,  they  are  under  no 
obligation  to  countenance  or  obey  him.  The  Chinese  say 
that  the  obligations  to  govern  justly  and  to  obey  loyally 
are  reciprocal,  and  they  have  no  such  conscientious  scru- 
ples about  deposing  a  bad  Emperor  as  a  respectable 
number  of  intelligent  Englishmen  manifested  about  de- 
posing James  II. 

As  all  places  in  the  Empire  are  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Emperor,  and  as  he  can  impose  taxes  at  will,  such  powers 
logically  include  all  others  which  a  ruler  could  conceive 
necessary  for  administrative  purposes;  but  a  few  in 
particular  may  be  named. 

The  Emperor  {Kwang  TJi)  has  the  right  to  make  peace 
and  to  declare  war,  he  is  the  judge  of  the  conditions  upon 


GOVERNMENT  57 

which  treaties  may  be  made,  and  his  judgments  are  irrevo- 
cable ;  all  sentences  for  offences  are  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Emperor,  but  the  authority  to  inflict  punishment 
for  minOr  offences  is  delegated  to  subordinate  officials. 
He  can  honour  or  disgrace  a  subject  before  or  after  death, 
he  can  either  reward  or  punish  a  subject,  and,  after 
death,  can  visit  upon  the  family  the  punishment  that 
would  have  been  visited  upon  the  subject  had  he  been 
alive.  He  may  change  the  figure  and  character  of  letters, 
or  abolish  any  character  already  received,  or  form  a  new 
one.  He  may  change  the  names  of  provinces,  of  cities,  or 
of  families,  and  may  forbid  the  using  of  any  expression  or 
manner  of  speaking,  and  bring  into  use  new  expressions 
and  manners  of  speaking. 

But  the  unlimited  power  with  which  the  Emperor  is 
invested  is  oftener  used  judiciously  than  otherwise.  There 
are  pages  in  China's  history  showing  that  this  power  has 
been  abused,  but  the}'^  are  the  exception  and  not  the  rule. 
Of  course  what  is  here  meant  by  judicious  use  has  refer- 
ence to  what  the  people  in  China  have  approved  and  to 
what  they  have  disapproved,  and  with  such  a  standard 
for  comparison  the  ill  use  of  the  imperial  authority,  when 
indulged  in,  has  not  continued  long. 

In  examining  the  maxims  which  long  usage  and  custom 
have  made  the  guide  of  the  Emperors  in  the  administration 
of  affairs,  the  governing  idea  in  the  Chinese  mind  seems  to 
have  been  that  it  was  safer  for  the  general  interest  to  put 
an  Emperor  on  his  good  behaviour,  and  cause  him  to  feel 
that  the  respect  which  he  showed  for  himself  would  be 
the  measure  of  the  respect  which  his  subjects  would  show 
for  him.  The  old  lawgivers  have,  therefore,  from  the 
foundation  of  the  Empire,  made  it  a  first  maxim  that  the 
Emperor  was  the  father  of  his  people,  and  not  a  master 
placed  on  the  throne  to  be  served  by  slaves.    An  Emperor 


68  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

may  be  a  great  warrior,  an  able  politician,  and  a  learned 
prince,  but  these  and  similar  qualities  do  not  fix  him  in 
the  affection  of  his  subjects  by  any  means  as  surely  and 
firmly  as  governing  benevolently  and  justly. 

If  the  Emperor  should  fail  in  what  his  subjects  may 
consider  his  proper  self-respect,  they  have  the  right  to 
petition  to  him  and  to  remind  him  of  his  error ;  the  only 
condition  is  that  the  petition  be  worded  in  respectful 
language.  The  right  of  petition  is  further  guaranteed 
when  the  Emperor  departs  in  his  administration  from  the 
customs  and  laws  of  the  Empire.  After  pledging  his 
loyalty,  the  petitioner  begs  that  the  Emperor  will  reflect 
upon  the  ancient  customs  and  laws  and  the  examples  of 
his  predecessors,  and  he  proceeds  to  note  wherein  he  appre- 
hends they  have  been  deviated  from.  There  is  an  obliga- 
tion upon  the  Emperor  to  read  the  petition,  and  if  there 
is  no  change  in  the  administration,  the  reminder  may  be 
repeated. 

There  are  examples  where  the  persistency  of  the 
petitioner  has  so  incensed  the  Emperor  that  he  has 
ordered  him  to  be  killed,  and  although  the  order,  as 
is  the  case  with  other  orders  of  the  Emperor,  has  been 
carried  out,  the  examples  are  few,  because  such  proofs 
of  unwillingness  to  be  advised  destroy  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  his  subjects.  The  history  of  China  evi- 
dences that  the  agency  of  a  petition,  in  redress  of  griev- 
ances and  setting  forth  wrongs,  is  a  potent  means  of 
recalling  Emperors  from  acts  of  remissness  to  a  return 
to  duty. 

Another  restraint  upon  the  Emperor  is  the  manner 
in  which  his  personal  history  is  written.  There  are 
a  certain  number  of  men  who  are  selected  for  their 
learning  and  impartiality,  whose  duty  it  is  to  write 
down  daily,  with  all  possible  exactness,  the  words  and 


GOVERNMENT  59 

acts  of  the  Emperor  and  everything  that  occurs  in  his  ad- 
ministration. These  men  have  no  communication  with 
each  other  with  reference  to  their  respective  duties.  At 
the  close  of  each  day  each  one  writes  on  a  separate  sheet 
of  paper  whatever  may  have  come  under  his  observation 
of  the  words  and  acts  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  sheets  are 
deposited  through  a  chink  into  an  office  set  apart  for  the 
purpose.  The  virtues  and  faults  of  the  Emperor  are  re- 
corded with  the  same  liberality.  As  an  example  :  "  Such 
a  day  the  Emperor's  behaviour  was  unreasonable  and  in- 
temperate, and  he  spoke  after  a  manner  which  did  not 
become  his  dignity.  The  punishment  which  he  inflicted 
upon  a  certain  officer  was  rather  the  effect  of  his  passion 
than  the  result  of  his  justice.  In  such  an  affair  he 
stopped  the  sword  of  justice  and  partially  abrogated  the 
sentence  passed  by  the  magistrate,"  or  else  "he  entered 
courageously  into  a  war  for  the  defence  of  his  people  and 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  honour  of  his  Kingdom.  At 
such  a  time  he  made  an  honourable  peace.  He  gave  such 
and  such  marks  of  love  for  his  people.  Notwithstanding 
the  commendations  given  him  by  his  flatterers,  he  was  not 
puffed  up,  but  behaved  himself  moderately,  and  his  words 
were  tempered  with  all  the  sweetness  and  humility  possible, 
which  made  him  more  loved  and  admired  than  ever." 

That  the  daily  histories  may  not  be  biassed  by  either 
fear  or  hope  in  the  account  they  give,  the  office  into 
which  the  sheets  of  paper  are  deposited  is  not  opened  dur- 
ing the  life  of  the  Emperor  or  while  any  of  his  family 
occupy  the  throne.  It  is  when  the  crown  goes  into 
another  line  that  the  sheets  are  gathered  together  and 
compared,  and  from  them  is  compiled  the  history  of  the 
Emperor  and  his  reign.  If  he  has  acted  with  virtue  and 
wisdom  in  his  private  and  public  life,  he  appears  in  the 
history  of  the  Empire  as  a  worthy  example  for  his  sue- 


60  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

cessors,  but  if  negligent  of  his  own  duty  and  the  good  of 
the  people,  he  is  exposed  as  the  object  of  common  censure 
and  odium. 

Although  the  Emperor  is  designated  in  Chinese  history 
as  the  son  of  heaven,  he  must,  in  order  that  his  subjects 
may  recognize  his  divine  commission,  govern  with  recti- 
tude and  goodness,  or  his  subjects  conclude  that  heaven 
has  withdrawn  the  commission  and  released  them  from 
their  loyalty. 

"  The  internal  arrangements  of  the  imperial  court  are 
modelled  somewhat  after  those  of  the  boards,  the  general 
supervision  being  under  the  direction  of  the  imperial 
household  Nui-wu-fu^  composed  of  a  president  or  comp- 
troller {Tiung  Kwan  Ta  Ohe'ri)  and  six  assessors,  under 
whom  are  seven  subordinate  departments.  It  is  the  duty 
of  these  officers  to  attend  upon  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
at  sacrifice,  and  conduct  the  ladies  of  the  harem  to  and  from 
the  palace  ;  they  oversee  the  households  of  the  sons  of  the 
Emperor,  and  direct,  under  his  Majesty,  everything  be- 
longing to  the  palace  and  whatever  appertains  to  its 
supplies  and  the  care  of  the  imperial  guard.  The  seven 
departments  are  arranged  so  as  to  bear  no  little  resem- 
blance to  a  miniature  state  :  one,  the  Treasury  of  Privy 
Purse  (^Kwang-Ohu-Sze)^  supplies  food  and  raiment ;  a 
second,  the  Department  of  Imperial  Body-guard  (>iS'Ae- 
Wei-Ch^u)^  is  for  defence,  to  regulate  the  body-guard  when 
the  Emperor  travels;  the  third,  the  Office  of  Ceremony 
(JJhang  I  Sze)^  attends  to  the  etiquette  the  members  of 
his  great  family  must  observe  toward  each  other,  and 
brings  forward  the  inmates  of  the  harem  (^Ta  Ying  and 
Ch'ang  TTsai)  when  the  Emperor  seated  in  the  inner  hall 
of  audience  receives  their  homage,  led  by  the  Empress  her- 
self ;  a  fourth,  the  Department  of  Collectorate  (^Hwei-Ki- 
8ze)y  selects  ladies   to  fill   the  harem,  and  collects   the 


GOVERNMENT  61 

revenue  from  the  crown  lands;  a  fifth,  the  Office  of 
Works  Department  (^Ying  Tsao  Sze),  superintends  all 
repairs  necessary  in  the  palace  and  sees  that  the  streets 
of  the  city  are  cleared  whenever  the  Emperor,  Empress, 
or  any  of  the  women  or  children  in  the  palace  wish  to 
go  out;  a  sixth,  the  Department  of  Pasturage  (^King  Feng 
Sze)^  has  in  charge  the  herds  and  flocks  of  the  Emperor; 
and  the  last  is  a  Court  or  Judicial  Department  (^Shen 
Sing  Sze)  for  punishing  the  crimes  of  soldiers,  eunuchs, 
and  others  attached  to  the  palace."     (Williams.) 

From  the  Emperor  to  the  imperial  clansmen  (Tsung 
Shili)  and  nobility  is  but  a  step,  and  these  are  influential 
in  the  government  and  the  main  prop  of  the  throne.  The 
reigning  family  is  not,  as  has  been  stated,  native  to 
China.  It  was  founded  in  1583-1615  a.d.  by  Hien 
Tsu,  a  Manchu,  and  all  included  in  the  imperial  clan  are 
his  descendants  or  connections.  There  is  a  clansmen's 
court  which  controls  the  imperial  clan  and  regulates 
whatever  belongs  to  the  government  of  the  Emperor's 
kindred. 

The  kindred  of  the  Emperor  are  divided  into  two 
branches  ;  the  direct  comprises  the  lineal  descendants 
{Tiung  Shih)y  the  collateral  (^Kioh-lo)  includes  children 
of  uncles  and  brothers,  the  distinguishing  mark  being  a 
yellow  girdle  for  the  imperial  house  and  a  red  girdle  for 
the  collateral.  The  collateral  branch  is  called  the  Gioro 
line,  represented  by  the  chiefs  of  the  eight  Manchu  fami- 
lies who  aided  in  settling  the  crown  in  that  line  and  are 
hereditary  princes,  collectively  called  Princes  of  the  Iron 
Crown. 

The  titular  nobility  is  not  founded  upon  landed  estate  or 
the  ownership  of  land,  and  the  title  does  not  confer  power, 
but  is  more  of  an  ornament  to  please  and  gratify  vanity. 
There  are  twelve  orders  of  nobility  which  are  conferred 


62  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

solely  on  members  of  the  imperial  house  or  clan.  It  was 
the  custom  at  one  time  for  the  nobility  to  reside  away 
from  the  capital,  and  to  curtail  their  influence  they  were 
paid  a  salary  at  stated  periods.  They  were  also  restricted 
from  engaging  in  business,  but  the  custom  is  no  longer 
enforced. 

There  are  some  ancient  orders  of  nobility  which  are 
highly  prized  as  marks  of  honour  because  conferred  with- 
out distinction  on  Manchu,  Mongol,  and  Chinese,  civil  and 
military,  and  as  a  recognition  of  merit.  There  are  only 
two  perpetual  titles  of  nobility,  a^d  these  belong  to  the 
direct  descendants  of  Confucius  and  Koxinga.  That  of 
Confucius  is  the  "Ever-sacred  Duke,"  that  of  Koxinga 
the  "  Sea-quelling  Duke."  Confucius  owes  his  title  to 
his  writings,  which  have  instructed  and  influenced  a 
greater  number  of  minds  than  the  writings  of  any  other 
man.  They  have  stood  the  test  of  centuries  of  criticism 
and  are  to-day  the  basis  of  Chinese  law  and  the  classic  of 
Chinese  scholars.  The  efforts  of  Koxinga  to  save  China 
from  wearing  the  yoke  of  a  conqueror  won  for  his  descend- 
ants the  honour  they  enjoy.  When  the  native  dynasty  was 
overthrown  in  1643  by  the  Manchu  invaders,  Koxinga 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  conqueror,  sailed  away  to 
Formosa,  drove  the  Dutch  from  the  island,  and  made  him- 
self master  of  it.  Such  recognition  of  the  merits  of  the 
scholar  and  the  valour  of  the  soldier  is  highly  creditable 
to  the  reigning  dynasty,  because  both  Confucius  and 
Koxinga  were  Chinese  and  to  the  manor  born. 

If  a  closer  look  be  taken  into  the  imperial  household,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  Emperor  has  no  choice  in  the  selec- 
tion of  his  wife.  The  Empress  {Hwang  How^  sometimes 
called  Kwoh  Mu^  "  Mother  of  the  State ")  is  selected 
from  certain  families  of  the  imperial  clan,  and  the  choice 
and  all  the  details  are  arranged  by  special  friends.    Neither 


GOVERNMENT  63 

the  wishes  of  the  bride  nor  those  of  the  bridegroom  are 
consulted,  but  in  the  selection  of  a  concubine  the  Emperor 
has  the  freedom  of  choice.  Is  not  this  a  reason  for  un- 
happy marriages  in  China  ?  The  same  principle  of  match- 
making and  ignoring  the  wishes  or  preferences  of  the 
parties  most  interested  not  only  governs  in  the  imperial 
household,  but  in  all  Chinese  family  life.  But  the  Chinese 
answer  that  the  number  of  unhappy  marriages  in  China  is 
not  greater  than  in  other  countries,  and  claim  merit  for 
their  marriage  custom  in  that,  when  the  husband  is  dis- 
loyally inclined,  he  is  not  required  to  stray  away  from  his 
own  home.  His  concubines  live  under  the  same  roof  as 
his  legal  wife,  who  still  remains  the  ranking  lady  of  the 
establishment. 

Marco  Polo  writes  that  when  he  was  in  China  the 
Emperor  Kublai  Khan  had  four  wives  whom  he  retained 
permanently  as  his  legitimate  consorts,  and  that  the  four 
were  styled  Empresses,  but  that  each  was  distinguished 
by  her  proper  name.  Each  Empress  had  a  special  court 
of  her  own  with  not  less  than  three  hundred  young  ladies- 
in-waiting,  and,  adding  to  these  the  number  of  pages  and 
eunuchs,  gives  as  many  as  ten  thousand  persons  attached 
to  each  court.  Polo  further  writes  that  Kublai  had 
also  a  great  number  of  concubines,  and  that  his  harem 
was  replenished  every  year  by  selections  made  from  the 
most  beautiful  maidens  in  the  Empire. 

But  during  the  time  of  the  later  Emperors,  and  par- 
ticularly of  the  present  ruler,  but  one  wife,  who  is  the 
Empress,  is  allowed  to  the  Emperor  ;  but  the  practice  of 
having  concubines  is  not  disallowed,  and  the  eunuchs  who 
still  surround  the  court  are  often  more  influential  in 
shaping  the  policy  of  the  Empire  than  are  all  the  members 
combined  of  the  Council  specially  formed  to  advise  the 
Emperor. 


64  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  presenting  a  readable  outline  of 
the  Chinese  government,  I  hope  I  have  made  clear  the 
main  pivots  of  its  practical  administration.  If  the  reader 
should  vrish  to  acquire  a  more  technical  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  I  refer  him  to  the  forty-eight  volumes,  published 
by  the  government,  in  which  he  will  find  prescribed 
in  detail  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  officers  of 
the  several  departments.  These  volumes  are  the  official 
record,  and  the  following  is  a  brief  synopsis  of  each 
volume  :  — 

Volume  I  is  on  the  office  of  the  imperial  kindred,  and 
on  the  management  of  this  department.  The  Tartar  policy 
is  to  keep  the  majority  of  the  numerous  imperial  progeny 
in  a  very  low  condition,  as  the  imperial  design  is  to  retain 
the  princes  on  a  level  with  the  people.  Many  of  them 
receive  but  three  taels  a  month,  so  that  several  work  as 
servants.  An  accurate  register  of  the  births,  marriages, 
and  deaths  in  the  imperial  family  is  carefully  kept. 

Volume  II  is  on  the  Nui  Koh^  or  Imperial  Cabinet  or 
Grand  Secretariat,  which  consists  of  six  men,  generally 
old,  who  have  raised  themselves  to  the  highest  seat  in 
the  Empire  ;  their  duty  is  to  assist  the  Emperor  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Empire,  to  circulate  edicts,  and  attend 
at  sacrifices. 

Volume  III  is  on  the  Kiun  Ki  QlHu^  the  Grand  Council 
or  Imperial  Privy  Council.  This  is  the  most  powerful 
body  in  the  Empire  ;  the  members  are  chosen  by  the 
Emperor  himself.  They  meet  from  three  to  five  each 
day,  and  anything  that  requires  despatch  and  energy  is 
done  by  them ;  they  appoint  and  remove  the  residents  at 
Tibet,  Turkestan,  etc.;  and  they  supply  these  colonies. 
They  select  presents  for  tribute-bearers,  and  translate  pub- 
lic documents  into  and  from  any  foreign  languages,  etc. 

Volume  IV  is  on  the  Li  Pu^  or  Board  of  Civil  Affairs, 


GOVERNMENT  65 

whose  duty  is  to  assist  his  Majesty  in  all  arrangements 
concerning  the  rank,  examination,  promotion,  or  degrada- 
tion of  officers ;  the  rank  and  title  of  the  nobility,  rewards, 
etc.  They  have  at  their  disposal  (subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Emperor)  the  patronage  of  1934  offices,  from  the 
governor  of  a  province  down  to  the  district  magistrate, 
with  a  number  of  inferior  civilians. 

Volume  V  is  on  the  Board  of  Education.  The  number 
of  functionaries  under  this  board  is  12,996  of  all  grades. 
Of  these  3931  are  teachers  intrusted  with  the  examina- 
tions. In  the  grain  department  there  is  one  governor  and 
with  him  are  twelve  inspectors.  In  the  salt  office,  eight 
superintendents,  five  assistants,  thirteen  inspectors,  and 
other  minor  officers.  There  are  in  the  Board  of  Inland 
Navigation  three  governors,  fourteen  managers,  thirty- 
four  deputies,  and  some  other  officers  bearing  military 
rank,  who  have  the  duty  of  preserving  the  dikes  and 
protecting  the  navigation  of  the  rivers. 

Volume  VI  deals  with  the  mode  of  selecting  public 
servants  and  with  the  various  ways  of  promoting  officers, 
etc. 

Volume  VII  is  on  the  Hu  Pu^  or  Board  of  Revenue, 
which  is  charged  with  the  finances,  the  payment  of 
salaries,  and  the  management  of  the  granaries.  It  also 
contains  geographical  descriptions  of  the  various  districts 
of  the  Empire,  and  an  account  of  the  available  waterways 
and  mountains. 

Volume  VIII  contains  the  censuses,  cities,  towns  and 
markets,  with  the  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude  of 
the  several  provinces,  as  calculated  by  the  Jesuits. 

Volume  IX  is  on  the  expenditure  of  the  state,  and 
is  arranged  under  twelve  heads  :  for  sacrifices,  popu- 
lar festivals,  allowance  for  officers,  for  their  servants, 
the  provincial  examinations,  soldiers'  batta,  stipends  of 


66  CHINA   IS  LAW   AND  COMMCBCE 

ecNDDtieEBt  inland  nsYigation,  sundries,  mannfactnrers,  and 
salaries. 

Volume  X,  the  details  of  the  income  and  expenditure 
in  scMiie  branches  ;  the  mines  and  mint. 

Volmiie  XI,  a  general  report  on  the  build  of  boats,  the 
transit  of  grain,  and  excise  duty  on  merchandise. 

"Volume  XII  is  on  the  settling  of  disputes  as  to  the 
paj  of  the  soldiers  of  the  eight  Manchu  banners,  and  other 
scddiers ;  on  the  supply  of  the  commissariat  with  money 
and  food,  and  on  how  to  watdi  and  overhaul  the  treasury 
and  granaries,  for  fear  of  roguery. 

Volume  XIII  expatiates  on  the  Li  Puy  or  Board  of 
BiteSi  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  despotic  government. 
It  iDnstrates  the  hold  of  etiquette  on  the  people. 

Vohune  XIV  dilates  on  the  robes  of  state  worn  at  the 
court,  and  on  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed  between  the 
different  officers  of  state  when  they  vidt  each  other. 

Volume  XV  gives  an  account  of  all  their  schools  and 
Cfdleges,  and  of  how  the  examinations  are  carried  on. 

VoLinne  XVI  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  literary 
ft'^^affnin^*^^""*)  and  of  the  duties  of  candidates  for  office. 
It  also  Izeats  of  ihe  seals  of  the  various  departments,  as 
used  under  the  Board  of  Bites. 

Volume  XVII  gives  a  minute  account  of  their  temples 
and  altius,  of  the  various  deities  and  saints  worshipped  by 
file  government,  and  the  ceremonies  in  the  temples. 

Volume  XVIU  is  a  Tnannal  of  the  harem ;  it  regulates 
the  dnssB  and  etiquette  to  be  observed  by  ladies  of  the 

OOfOlt. 

Volmne  XIX  is  on  the  presents  to  be  given  to  tribute- 
bearers  ;  gives  an  account  of  those  kingdoms  that  paid 
tribute  to  China  ;  it  is  also  on  the  generosity  that  should 
be  shown  to  tribute-bearers  that  come  a  long  distance, 
on  saerifioes  to  the  gods  of  those  nations,  and  gives  a 


GOVERNMENT  OT 

description  of  imperial  banquets  to  the  living  and  the 
dead. 

Volume  XX  is  entirely  on  music,  and  gives  the  names 
of  the  airs  to  be  played  on  certain  occasions. 

Volume  XXI  is  on  the  Ping  Pu,  or  Board  of  War,  and 
gives  the  number  of  all  officers  and  garrisons  in  the  Em- 
pire, and  their  reviews. 

Volume  XXII  is  a  continuation  of  the  former,  gives  an 
account  of  the  navy,  the  transport  service,  and  the  Tartar 
garrisons  in  the  provinces. 

Volume  XXm  details  the  eighteen  ranks  of  military 
officers. 

Volume  XXIV  is  on  martial  law,  which  is  very  severe; 
treats  of  the  nobility  that  is  open  to  the  brave,  and  of  the 
protection  for  the  children  of  those  who  die  on  the  field  of 
battle. 

Volume  XXV  treats  of  the  cavalry  and  cavalry  posts ; 
as  the  foot-soldiers  are  considered  an  armed  police,  so  the 
cavalry  are  mere  couriers  to  carry  despatches. 

Volume  XXVI  contains  an  account  of  van,  rear,  and 
centre  of  the  army,  its  battalions  and  companies. 

Volume  XXVII  is  on  the  Sing  Pvl,  or  Board  of  Pun- 
ishments. It  details  the  several  modes  of  punishment, 
according  to  the  ancient  laws;  subdivides  the  existing 
codes ;  reduces  all  the  statutes  it  contains  to  matters  con- 
cerning the  six  boards. 

Volume  XXVIII  dilates  on  prisons,  the  commutation 
of  punishments,  assizes,  and  gives  an  outline  of  the  seven- 
teen principal  courts. 

Volume  XXIX  is  on  the  Kung  Pil,  or  Board  of  Public 
Works.  The  imperial  tombs  rank  first,  then  the  dikes 
and  inland  navigation.  There  is  a  full  description  of  the 
imperial  city. 

Volume  XXX  treats  of  the  manofacture  of  arms  and 


68  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

gunpowder  ;  the  selection  of  pearls  for  the  use  of  the  Em- 
peror ;  the  public  works  along  the  rivers  and  canals. 

Volume  XXXI  gives  a  description  of  the  tombs  of  the 
Emperors  and  other  persons,  the  various  granaries,  the 
mint,  the  powder  manufactories,  etc. 

Volume  XXXII  is  on  the  lA  Fan  Yuen,  or  Colonial 
Office,  which  is  managed  entirely  by  Mongols.  It  regu- 
lates the  emoluments  of  the  nobility,  appoints  the  audi- 
ences of  the  chiefs,  and  revises  their  punishments. 

Volume  XXXIII  describes  Outer  Mongolia,  and  con- 
tains the  names  of  the  different  hordes  and  their  chiefs, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  ruling  khans.  It  has  a  short 
account  of  the  trade  with  Russia  and  enumerates  the 
caravan  post  establishments. 

Volume  XXXIV  gives  a  more  minute  description  of 
the  Mongol  princes,  the  tribute  they  pay,  their  relation- 
ship, the  presents  they  receive,  and  gives  an  account  of 
the  nobility,  revenue,  and  situation  of  Turkestan. 

Volume  XXXV  is  on  the  Board  of  Censors  and  their 
various  functions ;  on  the  Court  of  Requests,  through 
which  all  important  papers  pass  ;  and  on  the  Ta-le-8hi,  or 
Court  of  Revision. 

Volume  XXXVI  is  on  the  imperial  stud;  and  the 
display  of  the  Tartars  when  denizens  of  the  wilderness. 

Volume  XXXVII  gives  an  account  of  the  eating  estab- 
lishment, and  the  sacrifices  known  as  the  Kwan-lu-shi ; 
and  an  account  of  the  annual  imperial  ceremony  of  plough- 
ing in  the  fields,  and  the  examinations  in  the  palace. 

Volume  XXXVIII  contains  an  account  of  the  national 
school,  in  which  the  sons  of  meritorious  officers  are  sup- 
ported ;  and  of  the  Kin  Tien  Kien,  or  Astronomical  Board, 
which  is  to  foretell  coming  events,  lucky  hours,  and  prepare 
the  national  calendar. 

Volume  XXXIX  is  a  treatise  on  Chinese  astronomy. 


GOVERNMENT  69 

Volume  XL  is  on  the  business  of  astronomers,  and  on 
the  medical  college  and  its  various  functions. 

Volume  XLI  is  on  the  imperial  body-guard,  and  the 
service  it  performs. 

Volume  XLII  gives  an  account  of  the  eight  standards 
of  the  powers  of  the  Manchus,  and  their  domestic  arrange- 
ments at  births,  marriages,  and  deaths. 

Volume  XLIII  details  their  duties  at  reviews,  and 
their  duties  when  on  active  service,  etc. 

Volume  XLIV  is  on  artillery,  mortars,  batteries,  etc. 

Volume  XLV  is  an  inventory  of  the  things  in  the 
treasury,  palaces,  and  temples. 

Volume  XLVI  is  on  the  marriage  of  the  Emperor  and 
princesses,  and  on  the  duties  they  ought  to  perform. 

Volume  XLVII  is  on  the  administration  of  punish- 
ment. 

Volume  XL VIII  enumerates  all  the  pleasure  gardens 
in  and  around  Peking,  and  their  uses;  and  gives  an 
account  of  the  eating  establishments. 


CHAPTER  III 

LAW 

It  was  stated  in  another  chapter  that  the  power  of  the 
Emperor  was  unlimited,  but  that  he  was  careful  to  use  it 
as  modified  by  the  customs  of  his  Empire.  It  should  not 
be  inferred,  however,  that  China  is  without  a  code  of 
laws.  It  is  true  that  in  each  province  there  are  peculiar 
customs,  and  in  essential  particulars  these  customs  often 
materially  differ,  but  there  is,  nevertheless,  a  somewhat 
logically  arranged  code  of  laws  by  which  the  Courts 
should  be  governed,  and  rights  and  wrongs  defined. 

About  twenty  centuries  ago  one  Li  Kwei  undertook  to 
codify  the  laws  of  China,  and  the  result  of  the  undertak- 
ing is  forty  volumes  which  are  divided  into  four  hundred 
and  thirty-six  sections.  Each  volume  is  devoted  to  a 
certain  branch  of  the  law  and  subdivided  into  appropriate 
divisions.  It  is  a  comprehensive  collection,  systematically 
arranged,  and  clear  in  statement  and  meaning. 

Since  the  codification  of  the  laws  by  Li  Kwei,  the  suc- 
cessive dynasties  which  have  ruled  China  have  amended 
or  annulled  many  of  the  provisions  of  this  code,  but  it 
remains  the  fundamental  structure  of  Chinese  juris- 
prudence. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Chinese  as  a  nation  first  submitted  to  the  sway  of  a 
foreign  conqueror,  and  many  of  the  laws  and  institutions 
now  in  force  do  not  antedate  the  last  Tartar  conquest ; 
but  while  this  may  be  accurate  as  to  mere  date,  it  is  a  fact 

70 


LAW  71 

that  the  Tartar  did  not  conquer  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  Chinese.  The  abrogation  of  a  constitution  or  of  a 
law  may  have  been  decreed  by  the  conqueror,  but  when 
the  rebuilding  of  the  legal  fabric  was  begun,  the  necessity 
for  the  use  of  the  old  materials  was  too  pressing  for  them 
to  be  discarded. 

There  never  was  an  instance  in  history  of  a  conquered 
race  absorbing  its  conquerors  more  completely  than  the 
Chinese  have  absorbed  the  Tartars,  not  only  in  manners 
and  customs,  but  also  in  laws  and  language. 

The  Code  which  I  shall  mainly  use  as  authority  was 
published  in  1647,  three  years  after  the  Manchu  Emperor 
took  the  throne.  The  principles  on  which  it  was  drawn 
up  are  explained  in  the  original  preface,  and  the  following 
extract  from  it  is  given  as  a  matter  of  interest  and  to  show 
its  authentic  character.  The  Emperor  Shunchi  describes 
the  manner  of  revising  the  Code  thus :  — 

"  A  numerous  body  of  magistrates  was  assembled  at  the 
capital,  at  our  command,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the 
penal  Code  formerly  in  force  under  the  late  dynasty  of 
Ming,  and  of  digesting  the  same  into  a  new  Code,  by  the 
exclusion  of  such  parts  as  were  exceptional  and  the  intro- 
duction of  others  which  were  likely  to  contribute  to  the 
attainment  of  justice  and  the  general  perfection  of  the 
work.  The  result  of  their  labours  having  been  submitted 
to  our  examination,  we  maturely  weighed  and  considered 
the  various  matters  it  contained,  and  then  instructed  a 
select  number  of  our  great  officers  of  state  carefully  to 
revise  the  whole,  for  the  purpose  of  making  such  altera- 
tions and  emendations  as  might  still  be  found  requisite. 
Wherefore,  it  being  now  published,  let  it  be  your  great 
care,  officers  and  magistrates  of  the  interior  and  exterior 
departments  of  our  Empire,  diligently  to  observe  the  same, 
and  to  forbear  in  future  to  give  any  decision,  or  to  pass 


72  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

any  sentence,  according  to  your  private  sentiments,  or  upon 
your  unsupported  authority.  Thus  shall  the  magistrates 
and  people  look  up  with  awe  and  submission  to  the  justice 
of  these  institutions,  as  they  find  themselves  respectively 
concerned  in  them  ;  the  transgressor  will  not  fail  to  suffer 
a  strict  expiation  of  his  crimes,  and  will  be  the  instrument 
of  deterring  others  from  similar  misconduct ;  and  finally 
both  officers  and  people  will  be  equally  secured  for  endless 
generations  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  happy  effects  of  the 
great  and  noble  virtues  of  our  illustrious  progenitors." 

The  public  is  indebted  to  Sir  George  Thomas  Staunton 
for  translating  the  Code  into  the  English  language,  but, 
strange  to  say,  this  interesting  and  valuable  translation 
has  been  allowed  to  go  out  of  print.  The  copy  before  me 
was  printed  in  1810,  and,  without  it,  the  foreigner,  unless 
familiar  with  the  Chinese  language,  would  be  unable  'to 
learn  the  laws  by  which  the  world's  oldest  Empire  is 
governed. 

The  Code  is  based  on  the  Chinese  classics,  which  are 
the  source  and  foundation  of  all  Chinese  law  and  the 
standard  by  which  all  rights  and  punishments  are 
measured.  The  classics  take  the  place  of  books  of  reli- 
gion, model  the  form  of  government,  and  define  and 
regulate  authority. 

I  propose  in  this  chapter  to  present  some  of  the  leading 
principles  of  the  laws  of  China,  and  I  hope  to  do  so  with- 
out confusing  their  meaning  or  boring  with  unnecessary 
details.  As  the  idea  of  the  whole  system  of  laws  is  penal, 
I  shall  begin  with  the  branch  of  it  which,  in  modern  juris- 
prudence, would  be  classified  as  the  criminal  law. 

No  correct  understanding  of  either  the  criminal  or  civil 
branch  of  the  law  can  be  arrived  at  without  constantly 
bearing  in  mind  the  doctrine  of  mutual  responsibility. 
This  doctrine  is  the  keynote  of  the  entire  system  and 


LAW  73 

gives  to  the  system  its  penal  and  relentless  character. 
"  It  makes  an  officer  careless  of  his  duties  if  he  can  shift 
the  responsibility  of  failure  upon  his  inferiors,  who,  at  the 
same  time,  he  knows  can  never  execute  his  orders ;  it 
renders  the  people  dead  to  the  impulses  of  relationship,  lest 
they  become  involved  in  what  they  cannot  possibly  con- 
trol and  hardly  know  at  the  time  of  its  commission." 
(Williams.)  The  relentless  feature  of  the  doctrine  is  so 
strongly  drawn,  in  connection  with  the  doctrine  of  mutual 
responsibility,  that  I  quote  the  very  language.  After 
stating  that  when  several  persons  are  parties  to  one 
offence,  the  original  contriver  of  it  shall  be  held  to  be  the 
principal  and  the  rest  who  followed  as  accessories,  the 
language  of  the  Code  is  as  follows :  "  When  the  parties 
to  an  offence  are  members  of  one  family,  the  senior  and 
chief  member  of  that  family  shall  alone  be  punishable,  but 
if  he  be  upward  of  eighty  years  of  age,  or  totally  disabled 
by  infirmities,  the  punishment  shall  fall  upon  the  next  in 
succession." 

The  members  of  a  Chinese  family  are  those  who  live 
as  members  of  the  same  household,  which  includes  all  who 
enter  by  marriage  or  adoption  as  well  as  slaves  and 
servants.  But  this  definition,  while  correct,  is  not 
sufficiently  comprehensive  as  to  the  meaning  of  mutual 
responsibility  as  intended  by  the  Code.  It  has  been 
stated  that  the  unit  of  social  life  in  China  is  found  in  the 
family,  the  village,  or  the  clan,  and  that  these  are  often 
convertible  terms,  and  this  is  specially  true  as  relates  to 
the  doctrine  of  mutual  responsibility.  The  responsibility 
of  the  family  for  the  act  of  a  member  is  most  cruelly  im- 
pressed, in  the  crime  of  high  treason,  in  another  section  of 
the  Code.  Thig  offence  is  "  committed  either  against  the 
stat«,  by  overthrowing  the  established  government,  or 
endeavouring  to  do  so,  or  against  the  sovereign,  by  destroy- 


74  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ing  the  palace  in  which  he  resides,  the  temple  where  his 
family  worshipped,  or  the  tomb  in  which  the  remains  of 
his  ancestors  lie  buried,  or  in  endeavouring  to  do  so.  All 
persons  who  shall  be  convicted  of  having  committed  these 
execrable  crimes,  or  having  intended  to  commit  them, 
shall  suffer  death  by  a  slow  and  painful  method,  whether 
they  be  principals  or  accessories.  All  the  male  relatives 
in  the  first  degree  of  the  persons  convicted  of  the  above- 
mentioned  crimes,  the  father,  grandfather,  and  paternal 
uncles,  as  well  as  their  own  sons  and  grandsons,  and  the 
sons  of  their  uncles,  without  any  regard  being  had  to  their 
place  of  abode,  or  to  any  natural  or  accidental  infirmities, 
shall  be  indiscriminately  beheaded.  All  persons  who  shall 
know  others  guilty  of  high  treason,  or  individuals  having 
intent  to  commit  such  a  crime,  and  who  shall  connive  at 
the  said  crime,  by  not  denouncing  the  authors,  shall  be 
beheaded."  The  responsibility  of  the  family  for  a  mem- 
ber who  commits  a  lesser  offence  still  follows,  but  of 
course  the  punishment  is  in  accordance  with  the  degree 
of  the  offence. 

Next  to  family  responsibility  comes  the  mutual  responsi- 
bility of  neighbour  for  neighbour,  and  the  question  whether 
the  neighbours  are  related  does  not  count  in  fixing  the  re- 
sponsibility. The  deciding  principle  is  that  good  neigh- 
bours make  good  neighbours,  and  when  a  neighbour  com- 
mits an  offence,  it  is  no  defence  for  another  neighbour  to 
say,  "  I  did  not  know  anything  about  it,"  for  the  answer 
is,  "You  are  the  neighbour  of  the  offender  and  should 
have  known."  It  is  reported  that  the  mother  of  Mencius 
removed  three  times  in  order  to  live  in  a  desirable  neigh- 
bourhood. 

An  additional  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  responsi- 
bility is  a  memorial  published  in  the  Peking  Q-azette,  relat- 
ing that  a  governor  of  one  of  the  provinces  had  reported 


LAW  75 

that,  a  parricide  having  been  committed,  he  had  had  the 
houses  of  all  the  neighbours  pulled  down  because  of  their 
gross  dereliction  of  duty  in  not  exerting  a  good  moral 
influence  over  the  criminal.  Another  illustration  is  given, 
when  a  crime  has  been  committed,  of  the  walls  of  a  city 
being  "pulled  down  in  parts,  or  modified  in  shape,  a 
round  corner  substituted  for  a  square  one,  or  a  gate 
removed  to  a  new  situation,  or  even  closed  up  altogether." 
Some  writers  maintain  that  if  this  crime  should  be  repeated 
several  times  in  the  same  city,  the  whole  city  would  be 
razed  to  the  ground  and  a  new  one  founded  elsewhere. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  Peking 
Crazette  is  the  oldest  newspaper  of  which  any  account  has 
been  given.  If  the  Chinese  government  can  be  said  to 
have  such  a  medium  as  a  newspaper  for  its  official  organ, 
the  Peking  Gazette  has  long  been  that  medium.  It  pub- 
lishes at  least  what  purport  to  be  genuine  copies  of  the 
decrees  and  edicts  of  the  Emperors  and  the  memorials 
addressed  to  the  throne  by  the  higher  provincial  officials. 

From  the  neighbour  to  the  village  is  another  step  in  the 
doctrine  of  mutual  responsibility.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  what  important  functions  are  exercised  by  the 
head-man  of  a  village,  and  that  these  functions  are  of  a 
most  miscellaneous  nature.  Although  the  head-man  may 
be  first  held  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  village,  responsibility  attaches  more  or  less  to 
every  inhabitant  and  makes  it  the  interest  of  each  one  to 
aid  in  preserving  peace  and  order.  Many  of  the  villages 
of  China  are  solely  inhabited  by  persons  who  have  the 
same  surname  and  the  same  ancestors.  These  persons 
have  lived  in  the  same  village  since  they  began  to  live  at 
all,  and  trace  an  unbroken  descent  for  centuries  back.  A 
village  so  composed  is  a  large  family,  and  the  principle  of 
responsibility  is  in  no  sense  changed. 


76  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Both  in  theory  and  practice  the  doctrine  of  responsi- 
bility is  savage  and  cruel  in  the  light  of  modern  jurispru- 
dence ;  but,  constituted  as  the  Chinese  are,  and  have  been 
since  known  to  authentic  history,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  vast 
numbers  who  populate  China  could  be  held  in  obedience 
to  authority  by  a  principle  less  searching  and  merciless. 

I  have  wished  to  impress  the  principle  of  mutual 
responsibility  in  order  to  render  more  intelligible  other 
principles  of  the  Code  which  will  now  be  presented. 

Homicide.  —  This  is  the  highest  crime  against  the  law 
of  nature  that  man  is  capable  of  committing,  and  will  be 
considered  first,  as  being  a  serious  offence  not  only  in 
English  law,  but  in  the  Chinese  Code  as  well.  It  is  not 
my  purpose  to  make  comparisons  between  what  is  neces- 
sary to  constitute  an  offence  in  English  law  and  under  the 
Code,  but  rather  to  state  the  principle  of  the  law  of  China 
as  understood  by  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject.  A 
different  course  would  necessitate  technical  distinctions, 
which  it  is  my  intention  to  avoid. 

According  to  English  law  homicide  is  of  three  kinds. 
It  is  justifiable,  excusable,  and  felonious.  When  justifi- 
able, there  is  no  guilt  at  all ;  when  excusable,  there  is  very 
little  guilt;  but  when  felonious,  it  becomes  the  highest 
crime  against  the  law  of  nature. 

The  provision  of  the  Code  which  brings  a  homicide 
under  the  third  classification  as  above  given  and  makes  it 
felonious,  reads  as  follows  :  "  In  every  case  of  persons 
preconcerting  the  crime  of  homicide,  whether  with  or 
without  design,  against  the  life  of  an  individual,  the 
original  contriver  shall  suffer  death  by  being  beheaded. 
All  the  accessories  to  the  contrivance,  who  likewise  con- 
tribute to  the  preconcerted  homicide,  shall  suffer  death 
by  being  strangled." 

Another  provision  of  the  Code  reads  :  "  All  persons 


LAW  77 

guilty  of  killing  in  an  affray,  that  is  to  say,  striking  in  a 
quarrel  or  affray  so  as  to  kill,  whether  the  blow  be  struck 
with  the  hand  or  the  foot,  with  a  metal  weapon,  or  with 
an  instrument  of  any  kind,  shall  suffer  death  by  being 
strangled."  Immediately  following  is  this  paragraph: 
"All  persons  guilty  of  killing  with  intent  to  kill  shall 
suffer  death  by  being  beheaded." 

The  quotations  from  the  Code  make  it  clear  that  to 
convict  of  the  crime  of  murder,  either  in  English  or 
Chinese  law,  there  must  be  proof  of  a  felonious  intent. 
In  the  Code  the  felonious  element  is  expressed  by  the 
words  "  preconcert  or  design  to  kill." 

The  degree  of  the  homicide,  when  the  killing  is  by  pre- 
concert or  design,  and  when  done  in  a  quarrel  or  affray, 
is  indicated  by  the  manner  of  the  punishment.  When  the 
punishment  inflicted  is  by  beheading,  the  homicide  is  then 
supposed  to  be  murder,  but  it  is  not  of  such  a  high  degree 
when  the  punishment  is  by  strangulation.  The  Chinese 
regard  beheading  as  the  most  infamous  of  punishments, 
because  when  the  body  appears  in  the  spirit-world,  it  is 
disfigured. 

The  Code  provides  how  accessories  shall  be  punished, 
marks  the  degree  between  them,  and  fixes  the  punishment 
accordingly.  An  accessory  to  the  contrivance,  who  like- 
wise contributes  to  the  perpetration  of  a  preconcerted 
homicide  or  murder,  is  executed  by  being  strangled.  If 
the  accessory  does  not  contribute  to  the  perpetration  of 
the  murder,  the  punishment  is  by  whipping  and  perpetual 
banishment. 

If  a  wound  be  inflicted,  in  consequence  of  a  previous 
design  to  commit  murder,  but  does  not  prove  mortal, 
the  original  contriver  of  the  deed  shall  be  strangled,  and 
the  accessories  'contributing  to  the  perpetration  shall  be 
whipped  and  perpetually  banished.     All  other  accessories 


78  CHINA   IK  LAW  AND   COMMEEOE 

who  do  not  contribute  in  the  manner  indicated  are  also  pun- 
ished by  whipping,  but  are  banished  for  only  three  years. 
Banishment  does  not  mean  that  the  guilty  accessory  shall 
be  sent  out  of  the  Empire ;  in  the  more  aggravated  cases 
the  perpetual  banishment  is  one  thousand  miles  from  the 
district  in  which  the  offence  was  committed. 

There  is  a  further  distinction  when  a  homicide  has  been 
preconcerted  and  attempted,  but  no  wound  inflicted.  In 
this  case  the  original  contriver  is  whipped  and  banished 
for  three  years,  but  the  accessory  is  whipped  only.  The 
extent  of  the  whipping  provided  for  in  all  the  above  cases 
is  one  hundred  blows. 

The  Code  is  explicit  against  an  original  contriver.  It 
says :  "  The  original  contriver  shall  suffer  punishment  as 
a  principal,  though  not  otherwise  contributing  in  any  man- 
ner to  carry  the  design  into  effect ;  but  the  accessories  to 
the  contrivance,  who  are  not  guilty  of  any  subsequent  overt 
act,  shall  suffer  punishment  less  by  one  degree  than  those 
of  the  accessories  who  acted  in  some  respects  upon  the  con- 
trivance, although  they  did  not  personally  contribute  to  the 
perpetration  of  the  deed." 

There  is  no  distinction  between  the  punishment  inflicted 
upon  principal  and  accessory  when  a  murder  is  committed 
for  the  sake  of  plunder  or  robbery ;  both  shall  suffer  death 
by  being  beheaded. 

From  the  foregoing  extracts  from  the  Code  it  is  evident 
that  in  China  the  crime  of  murder  cannot  be  committed 
in  the  absence  of  an  intent.  In  the  criminal  jurisprudence 
of  all  nations  having  a  code  of  laws  there  is  only  one  cri- 
terion by  which  the  guilt  of  a  man  is  to  be  tested.  It  is 
whether  the  mind  is  criminal.  Neither  in  philosophical 
speculation  nor  in  religion  or  moral  sentiment  could  any 
people  who  made  the  slightest  pretention  to  being  civil- 
ized allow  an  act  to  be  treated  as  criminal  in  the  absence 


LAW  79 

of  criminal  intent.  It  is,  therefore,  a  principle  of  Chinese, 
no  less  than  foreign  law,  that  the  essence  of  an  offence 
is  the  wrongful  intent  without  which  it  cannot  exist. 

As  if  to  remove  all  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  sec- 
tions of  the  Code  referred  to  on  the  subject  of  homicide, 
the  following  is  a  commentary  on  the  sections  which  the 
translator  makes  a  part  of  the  appendix  to  his  translation. 
"  In  the  trial  and  investigation  of  a  case  of  preconcerted 
homicide,  the  artifice  and  preconcerted  plan  must  be  clearly 
proved,  in  order  to  warrant  the  condemnation  of  any  per- 
son to  suffer  death  by  being  beheaded,  as  an  original  con- 
triver. In  like  manner,  the  act  of  striking  and  wounding 
must  have  been  proved  against  those  on  whom  the  sentence 
of  death  by  strangulation  has  been  pronounced  as  accesso- 
ries contributing  to  the  perpetration  of  the  crime.  Fur- 
ther, a  preconcerted  scheme,  and  the  prospect  of  booty, 
must  be  proved  with  the  same  certainty,  in  order  to  war- 
rant a  general  sentence  of  death  by  being  beheaded,  against 
all  the  parties,  whether  principals  or  accessories,  in  the  case 
of  premeditated  homicide  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  booty." 

The  responsibility  of  the  officer  who  presides  at  the  trial 
and  neglects  to  discharge  his  duty  as  provided  for  by  the 
Code  is  thus  fixed :  "  If  any  magistrate  presumes  to  pass 
sentence  of  death  in  any  of  the  aforesaid  cases  of  pre- 
meditated homicide,  without  having  proof,  in  each  case 
respectively,  of  the  previous  design,  concurrence  in  the 
perpetration,  or  acquisition  of  booty,  as  the  case  may  be, 
he  shall  be  answerable  for  the  lives  of  the  individuals 
whose  condemnation  he  pronounced." 

A  very  narrow  line  is  drawn  between  murder  and  man- 
slaughter. Many  cases  are  reported  by  Alabaster,  in  his 
"Notes  and  Commentaries  on  the  Chinese  Criminal  Law," 
showing  that  .the  offence  of  manslaughter  may  result  from 
extremely  indirect  causes.     In  some  of  these  cases  it  is 


80  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

astonishing  how  any  court  could  find  its  way  to  a  verdict 
of  guilty.  In  one  case  a  person  was  held  even  capitally 
responsible  because  a  lunatic  he  thought  was  trying  to 
ravish  his  sister-in-law  ran  out  into  the  snow  to  escape 
a  beating,  and,  leaving  his  clothes  in  the  prisoner's  hands, 
got  frozen  to  death.  In  another  the  prisoner  was  capitally 
sentenced  because  a  rival,  trying  to  avoid  him  on  his  rais- 
ing a  hue  and  cry,  tumbled  into  a  stream,  and  was  drowned. 
A  third  case,  cited  by  Alabaster,  was  not  so  seriously  dealt 
with.  In  that  case  the  prisoner  had  caught  a  thief,  and  in 
leading  him  to  the  police  station,  with  a  rope  which  he  had 
placed  round  the  captive's  throat,  stumbled  and  dragged 
his  captive  with  him  into  a  stream,  where  the  captive  was 
drowned.  The  prisoner  was  sentenced  to  three  years'  trans- 
portation, as  the  court  held  that  the  deceased  was  really  to 
blame.  Some  interesting  points  have  been  decided  when 
death  results  from  the  unskilful  practice  of  medicine.  It 
is  provided,  "  that  in  such  cases  other  practitioners  shall  be 
called  in  to  examine  the  nature  of  the  wound,  and  the  kind 
of  medicine  administered,  and  if  it  then  appears  that  the 
error,  though  of  judgment,  was  purely  accidental,  the  prac- 
titioner may  be  allowed  to  redeem  the  penalty  for  man- 
slaughter by  fine,  as  in  cases  purely  accidental,  but  will 
not  be  allowed  to  practise  any  longer.  On  the  other  hand 
where  a  practitioner,  with  a  view  to  increased  fees,  aggra- 
vates a  malady,  with  the  result  that  the  patient  dies,  the 
penalty  of  decapitation  will  be  adjudged."  It  is  not  an 
uncommon  offence  to  deprive  a  person  of  the  necessary  food 
and  clothing.  When  this  is  done  with  a  fatal  result,  the 
courts  have  held  it  to  be  a  case  of  aggravated  manslaughter. 
In  deciding,  however,  whether  manslaughter  or  murder  had 
been  committed,  the  intention  of  the  accused  would  enter 
largely  as  a  determining  element.  The  English  law  is 
thus  stated :  "  If  the  jury  should  regard  this  as  a  bona  fide 


i^w  81 

case  of  mutual  combat,  without  previous  malice  on  the  part 
of  the  accused,  and  that  mutual  blows  were  given  before 
the  accused  drew  his  knife,  and  that  he  drew  it  in  the  heat 
and  fury  of  the  fight,  and  dealt  a  mortal  wound,  although 
for  the  purpose  of  doing  just  what  he  did  do,  —  that  is,  of 
taking  life,  —  or  what  would  be  that  intent  if  he  had  been 
in  such  a  state  as  properly  to  comprehend  the  nature  of  his 
act,  still  it  is  but  manslaughter."  The  deciding  principle 
that  runs  through  the  law  and  distinguishes  between  mur- 
der and  manslaughter  is,  that  the  latter  offence  only  is  com- 
mitted when  the  killing  ensues  from  a  sudden  quarrel  or 
affray  and  without  malice  aforethought.  The  distinction 
in  Chinese  law  is  not  so  clearly  drawn,  but  there  is  a  dis- 
tinction nevertheless.  In  the  case  where  the  Chinese  physi- 
cian was  unskilful  in  his  treatment  and  death  followed,  it 
has  been  seen  that  the  offence  was  manslaughter.  In  an 
English  case  the  same  principle  was  held  to  be  sound  law. 
"  In  the  case  of  a  physician  or  other  person  attempting  to 
cure  one  of  his  malady,  yet  killing  the  patient  through 
unskilfulness  or  gross  carelessness,  if  the  person  so  caus- 
ing death  is  responsible  at  all  to  the  criminal  law,  his  of- 
fence is  merely  manslaughter,  because  he  neither  intended 
death  nor  used  with  the  patient  means  which  he  knew 
were  likely  to  put  the  life  in  peril." 

Under  the  classification  of  excusable  homicide,  the  rules 
which  guide  a  Chinese  court  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
homicide  is  excusable  are  more  complex  than  in  English 
law.  In  English  law,  where  a  man  doing  a  lawful  act, 
without  an  intention  of  hurt,  unfortunately  kills  another, 
the  homicide  is  excusable.  Thus,  where  a  man  is  at  work 
with  a  hatchet,  and  the  head  flies  off  and  kills  a  stander- 
by,  or  where  a  person  qualified  to  use  a  gun  is  shooting 
at  a  mark  and  undesignedly  kills  a  man.  In  both  in- 
stances the  act  is  lawful,  the  effect  is  merely  accidental, 


82  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

and  the  homicide  is  excusable.  But  if  death  ensues  in 
consequence  of  an  idle,  dangerous,  and  unlawful  sport,  as 
shooting  or  throwing  stones  in  a  town,  the  slayer  is  guilty 
of  manslaughter,  and  not  misadventure  ouly,  for  these  are 
unlawful  acts. 

In  a  Chinese  court,  however,  it  is  not  enough  to  prove 
the  intent.  The  court  will  carefully  consider  the  weapon, 
the  position  of  the  parties,  and  the  locality  in  which  the 
act  was  done.  The  killing  will  not  be  held  to  have  been 
accidental  unless  proved  to  have  been  clearly  so  and  to 
have  been  unavoidable.  The  words  of  the  Chinese  law, 
as  translated  are,  "  that  the  use  of  the  eyes  or  ears  could 
not  have  avoided  the  accident,  and  no  care  or  thoughtful- 
ness  could  have  prevented  it."  The  plea  of  excusable 
homicide  was  admitted  in  a  case  where  the  prisoner  tried 
to  get  away  from  a  drunken  man  who  desired  to  wrestle 
with  him  and  who,  being  somewhat  unsteady  on  his  legs, 
toppled  over  on  some  firewood  and  killed  himself.  In 
another  case,  the  prisoner  had  fired  a  bolt  from  his  cross- 
bow in  the  dark  at  a  fancied  thief,  and  a  companion  unex- 
pectedly getting  in  the  way  was  killed ;  here  the  plea  of 
excusable  homicide  was  admitted.  But  the  plea  was  not 
admitted  in  the  case  of  the  prisoner  who  was  out  shooting 
on  the  highroad  and,  accidently  firing  off  his  gun,  killed 
his  companion.  The  locality  where  the  gun  was  dis- 
charged, being  the  highroad,  though  little  frequented, 
was  against  the  prisoner,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  penal 
servitude  for  life  a  thousand  miles  from  his  native  place. 

Homicide  has  been  classed  as  justifiable,  and  in  English 
law  a  justifiable  homicide  is  divided  into  two  classes.  In 
the  first  class  the  party  is  not  to  blame  if  the  killing  be 
owing  to  some  unavoidable  necessity,  without  any  will, 
intention,  or  desire,  and  without  any  inadvertence  or  neg- 
ligence.    As,  for  example,  where  a  person,  by  virtue  of 


LAW  83 

his  office,  and  in  the  execution  of  public  justice,  puts  a 
malefactor  to  death,  who  has  forfeited  his  life  by  the  laws 
and  the  verdict  of  his  country.  But  the  law  must  require 
it,  otherwise  it  is  not  justifiable ;  therefore  wantonly  to 
kill  the  greatest  of  malefactors,  a  felon  or  a  traitor 
attainted  or  outlawed,  deliberately,  uncompelled,  and  extra- 
judicially, is  murder.  The  second  class  consists  of  homi- 
cides committed  for  the  advancement  of  public  justice,  in 
cases  where  the  act  is  not  commanded  but  permitted.  As, 
for  example,  such  homicides  as  are  committed  in  the  pre- 
vention of  a  felony,  in  the  arrest  of  persons  guilty  or  ac- 
cused of  crime,  in  preventing  escapes,  or  retaking  the 
criminal,  or  in  the  suppression  of  breaches  of  the  peace. 
Alabaster  has  translated  into  English  several  cases  de- 
cided by  the  Chinese  courts  which  illustrate  this  division 
of  homicide.  In  one  of  the  cases  a  robber  entered  a  house 
at  night  and  the  owner  of  the  house  killed  him  on  the 
spot,  where  it  was  not  an  offence  if  the  robber  was  armed 
and  resisted  the  arrest,  thus  putting  the  owner  in  peril ; 
and  it  would  be  justifiable  to  kill  the  robber,  if  he  were 
armed,  in  self-defence.  If  a  robber  enters  a  house  during 
the  daytime  and  is  killed,  the  slayer  is  punished  as  if  a 
light  offence  had  been  committed.  If  a  man  is  killed 
while  robbing  a  standing  crop  during  the  daytime,  the 
case  will  be  considered  as  one  of  unauthorized  killing, 
which  is  less  serious  than  killing  without  any  justification. 
But  when  robbery  is  perpetrated  in  the  fields  during  the 
night  and  the  robber  is  killed,  the  killing  is  treated  as  in  a 
measure  justifiable.  When  a  trespasser  enters  a  house  at 
night  and  is  shot  by  the  master,  a  distinction  is  drawn  be- 
tween sudden  shooting  and  shooting  after  deliberation  and 
threats ;  in  the  former  case  the  killing  is  in  a  measure  jus- 
tifiable, but  in  the  latter  the  intent  enters  as  an  element 
into  the  killing  and  makes  it  unjustifiable.     The  killing 


84  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

of  a  person  engaged  in  doing  an  act  detrimental  to  the 
community  at  large,  or  to  the  state  as  representing  the 
community,  is  justifiable.  If  a  married  woman,  while 
resisting  an  attack  on  her  virtue,  kills  the  assailant,  the 
assault,  in  the  absence  of  other  evidence,  would  greatly 
mitigate  the  crime  of  the  killing ;  but  if  the  woman  was  a 
virgin,  the  killing  would  be  justified. 

As  a  father  is  responsible  for  the  acts  of  his  son,  the 
law  very  logically  invests  him  with  almost  absolute  power. 
Here  comes  in  again  the  doctrine  of  responsibility,  and  a 
few  decided  cases  will  show  its  despotic  bearing.  In  the 
case  of  T'ien  Hung-lin,  reported  bj'^  Alabaster,  the  father 
burned  alive  his  son  and  two  grandchildren,  and  being 
sentenced  to  death  for  one  child  only,  was  let  off  with  sixty 
blows  and  one  year's  hard  labour,  although  the  killing  was 
brought  in  as  with  intent.  There  is  the  case  of  a  blind 
girl  who  was  adopted,  and  because  she  would  not  sing, 
was  beaten  to  death  by  her  adopter,  who  escaped  with 
ninety  blows  and  two  years.  Ho  Chin-lin  strangled  his 
nine -year-old  daughter  for  illicit  behaviour  with  a  boy  aged 
fifteen ;  the  father  was  sentenced  to  one  hundred  blows, 
the  retribution  being  considered  comparatively  justified. 
A  nephew  who  tore  up  the  portrait  of  his  great-grand- 
father and  pitched  his  bust  into  a  dust-heap,  was  killed  by 
an  uncle  who  was  punished  with  one  hundred  blows  only. 

In  the  protection  of  a  daughter's  virtue  a  parent  may 
justifiably  kill,  subject  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
If  an  attempt  is  made  to  abduct  a  favourite  daughter,  even 
in  the  night,  and  the  abductor  be  killed  in  the  act,  the 
killing  is  not  entirely  justifiable.  If  an  improper  advance 
is  made  to  a  daughter,  and  the  parent  should  kill  the  per- 
son who  made  such  an  advance,  whether  at  the  time  or 
afterward,  the  killing  is  not  justifiable,  but  the  sentence 
of  death  will  be  commuted. 


LAW  85 

Chinese  law  is  positive  in  recognizing  the  rights  of 
parents  to  protect  their  children,  and  the  rights  of  chil- 
dren to  protect  their  parents.  The  child  who  kills  the 
murderer  of  a  parent  is  completely  justified  when  the  slay- 
ing is  done  then  and  there  as  the  result  of  the  natural 
anger  arising  from  the  killing  of  the  parent.  To  kill  a 
would-be  murderer  in  defence  of  a  parent  the  child  is 
partially  justified,  which  means  that  the  capital  sentence, 
should  one  be  pronounced,  is  commuted.  The  justifica- 
tion sufficient  for  interference  has  been  explained  in  two 
cases.  One  is  that  of  Ts'ai  Ch'nan-chi,  when  the  parent 
was  on  the  ground  and  called  for  help,  and  the  assailant 
was  killed  while  his  fist  was  raised  to  hit  ;  this  was  held 
to  be  sufficient  justification.  The  other  case  is  that  of 
Wang  Hua-Yi,  in  which  the  supposedly  endangered  parent 
had  not  asked  for  help,  being  of  the  opinion  that  he  was 
quite  equal  to  the  assailant,  and  it  was  held  that  the 
justification  was  not  sufficient.  The  distinction  between 
the  two  cases  is  that  in  one  a  battery  was  threatened  and 
in  the  other  it  was  not. 

"  In  a  homicide  by  relations  generally  questions  of  justi- 
fication commonly  arise  where  the  killing  took  place  in  a 
relative's  defence.  To  kill  in  a  relative's  defence  one 
who  has  assaulted  him  with  deadly  intent  is  limitedly 
justifiable,  and  subject  to  the  special  considerations  of  the 
case.  But  the  case  must  be  a  clear  one,  and  instances  are 
on  record  where  it  has  been  held  in  no  measure  justifiable 
to  kill  in  defence  of  an  elder  brother.  The  majority  of 
the  cases,  however,  as  usual  arise  in  connection  with  the 
defence  of  a  relative's  propriety  merely.  So  it  is  in  a 
measure  justifiable  to  kill  a  person  who  attempts  to  seduce 
a  relative,  either  in  her  defence,  or  if  the  offender  (alarmed 
by  interference)  turns  on  the  newcomer,  in  his  own  ;  but 
in  order  to  plead  the  statute    the  slayer  must  kill  the 


86  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

offender  in  trying  to  arrest  him,  and  not  in  a  new  fight 
arising  out  of  vituperation.  To  be  justified  in  interfering 
the  relationship  must  be  near."     (Alabaster.) 

The  reciprocal  duties  and  rights  of  husband  and  wife 
will  be  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  Chinese  Family  Law, 
which  is  the  very  centre  of  the  entire  legal  system. 

Rape.  —  In  English  law  rape  is  defined  as  the  unlawful, 
carnal  knowledge  by  a  man  of  a  woman,  committed  with 
force,  where  she  does  not  consent.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  the 
same  law  that  a  boy  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years  is  con- 
clusively presumed  incapable  of  committing  the  offence, 
whatever  be  the  real  facts  of  the  case.  The  reason  is  that 
puberty  does  not  often  develop  itself  at  an  early  period, 
and  indecent  disclosures  which  tend  to  corrupt  public 
justice  are  prevented.  In  a  female  the  law  establishes  the 
age  of  twelve  years  for  her  legal  puberty. 

The  cases  which  have  been  decided  by  the  Chinese  courts 
mainly  sustain  in  principle  the  definition  in  English  law 
of  what  is  necessary  to  constitute  the  crime  of  rape.  In 
the  Code  the  doctrine  is  expressly  laid  down  that  criminal 
intercourse  with  a  female  under  twelve  years  of  age,  with 
or  without  consent,  shall  be  punished  as  rape  in  all  cases, 
the  punishment  being  decapitation,  but  subject  to  revision. 
If  the  child  should  die,  however,  in  consequence,  the  pun- 
ishment would  then  be  by  decapitation.  The  consent  of 
the  child  is  not  material,  unless  she  had  gone  astray,  when 
the  punishment  would  be  by  transportation.  In  the  case 
of  Wu  C'hi-lu  it  appeared  that  consent  was  given,  but  that 
the  woman  cried  out  before  completion ;  this  was  rape,  but 
the  penalty  was  very  much  mitigated.  It  would  be  rape  if 
consent  had  been  forced  from  a  woman  by  worrying  her 
for  money  she  owed  the  prisoner,  or  where  the  prisoner 
pretended  he  had  effected  his  purpose  while  the  woman 
was  asleep.     But  when  a  woman  is  asleep,  and  there  is  no 


LAW  87 

resistance  to  the  knowing  of  her,  it  is  not  rape.  In  other 
Chinese  cases  the  line  of  distinction  is  most  clearly  drawn 
between  a  woman  who  has  no  claim  to  virtue  and  one  who 
has.  But  at  the  same  time  the  Code  allows  of  repentance 
even  in  an  abandoned  woman,  and  to  carnally  and  forcibly 
know  one  who  has  reformed  her  previous  character  is  rape, 
and  if  the  previous  bad  character  had  been  known  to  the 
prisoner,  such  a  plea  would  not  excuse  him.  There  must, 
however,  be  a  real  return  to  virtue,  not  a  pretence. 
Where  there  has  been  a  successive  rape,  the  principal  is 
sentenced  to  decapitation  and  there  is  no  appeal,  but  the 
accomplice  is  sentenced  to  strangulation  subject  to  confir- 
mation. If  the  victim  of  the  successive  rape  should  die 
of  exhaustion,  the  punishment  is  decapitation  for  the  prin- 
cipal and  strangulation  for  the  accomplice  without  delay 
in  either  instance  for  confirmation. 

If  the  impression  prevails  abroad  that  morality  is  not 
appreciated  in  China,  the  evidence  to  justify  such  an 
impression  does  not  appear  in  the  cases  decided  by  the 
Chinese  courts  on  the  subject.  In  the  cases  immediately 
referred  to  above  the  crime  of  rape  is  as  accurately  defined 
and  as  surely  punished  as  it  is  in  the  code  of  any  western 
nation.  The  same  is  true  with  regard  to  the  attempt  to 
commit  the  crime,  and  any  other  indecency  offered  to  a 
woman.  The  woman  who  kills  herself  rather  than  sur- 
vive a  shame  she  could  not  prevent  is  awarded  a  tablet 
and  is  revered  by  the  Chinese  as  sacredly  as  the  Romans 
revered  Lucretia.  By  the  standard  of  some  western 
nations  it  could  be  concluded  that  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  impropriety  in  China,  but  a  people  should  be  judged  by 
their  own  customs  and  laws,  and  when  these  are  opposed 
to  immorality,  and  when  their  courts  deal  out  summary 
punishments  to  offenders  against  morality  and  propriety, 
there  is  much  to  be  said  on  their  behalf.     From  such  a 


88  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

point  of  view  a  sweeping  and  unqualified  arraignment  or 
condemnation  on  this  line  cannot  be  warranted. 

HouBeburning.  —  If  a  person  sets  fire  to  his  own  house 
by  accident,  he  shall  be  punished  with  forty  blows  ;  but 
when  other  buildings,  whether  public  or  private,  are  burned 
in  consequence,  the  punishment  is  increased  to  fifty  blows. 
If  death  be  occasioned  by  the  accidental  burning,  the  pun- 
ishment is  one  hundred  blows.  But  the  person  respon- 
sible for  the  accidental  burning  shall  be  the  only  one 
liable  to  punishment.  The  punishment,  however,  is  by 
strangulation  "  should  the  fire  extend  to  any  of  the  impe- 
rial temples,  or  to  the  gates  of  the  imperial  palace.  If  it 
should  extend  to  any  of  the  monuments  consecrated  to  the 
spirit  of  the  earth,  the  punishment  shall  be  less  by  one 
degree."    (Code.) 

For  arson  of  a  man's  own  house  the  punishment  is  one 
hundred  blows,  but  should  the  fire  extend  to  and  destroy 
any  other  building,  or  property  stored  for  public  or  private 
use,  the  offender  shall  receive  the  additional  punishment 
of  three  years'  banishment.  Should  the  person  guilty  of 
the  wilful  burning  take  the  opportunity  to  purloin  any 
goods  or  property,  he  shall  be  beheaded,  and  "if  such 
burning  should  cause  death  or  severe  wounding  of  any 
person,  the  offender  shall  be  punished  at  least  according 
to  the  utmost  severity  of  the  law  concerning  intentionally 
killing  or  wounding."  (Code.)  If  the  building  thus  wil- 
fully and  maliciously  burned  be  empty  and  uninhabited,  or 
if  fire  be  wilfully  set  to  grain  or  other  property  of  like 
kind,  which  is  stacked  and  stored  up  in  fields  and  open 
places,  the  degree  of  punishment  is  one  degree  less  than 
that  last  mentioned.  "  All  property  of  the  offenders  shall, 
in  such  cases,  be  sequestrated,  and  charged  with  the  repa- 
ration of  the  loss  or  damage  sustained,  whether  by  private 
individuals  or  by  the  government,  and  when  such  property 


LAW  89 

does  not  prove  sufficient,  it  shall  be  divided  into  shares 
proportionate  to  the  respective  losses  of  the  individual 
proprietors  and  of  the  government."     (Code.) 

"  All  accessories,  as  well  as  principals,  to  the  crime  of 
wilfully  and  maliciously  setting  on  fire  any  residence, 
either  of  an  officer  of  the  government,  or  of  any  private 
individual,  their  own  only  excepted,  or  to  the  crime  of,  in 
the  same  manner,  setting  fire  to  any  government  or  private 
building,  treasury,  or  storehouse,  in  which  public  or  pri- 
vate property  of  any  kind  is  stored  and  deposited,  shall  be 
punished  with  death,  by  being  beheaded  at  the  usual 
period."     (Code.) 

"To  convict  such  offenders,  it  is  necessary  that  they 
should  have  been  taken  or  discovered  on  the  spot  where 
the  fire  took  place,  and  that  the  fact  of  their  having  been 
wilful  incendiaries  be  proved  by  the  direct  testimony  of 
competent  witnesses."    (Code.) 

When  the  burning  happens  during  the  commission  of 
another  offence,  the  accident  does  not  mitigate  but  aggra- 
vates the  offence.  In  the  case  of  Yang  Erh,  who,  having 
committed  larceny,  was  running  away,  and  while  doing  so 
dropped  a  slow-match  within  the  house  where  he  had  com- 
mitted the  offence,  and  thereby  set  the  house  on  fire,  it 
was  held  that  the  fire  was  traceable  to  the  theft,  and  that 
the  offence  was  aggravated  to  the  highest  degree. 

Housebreaking.  —  This  offence,  as  distinguished  from 
houseburning  or  arson,  is  against  the  security  of  the 
habitation,  not  against  the  dwelling-house  as  property. 
The  offence  by  itself  may  not  be  known  to  Chinese  law, 
but  the  elements  which  constitute  it  in  English  law  enter 
into  the  essentials  of  other  offences  which  are  known. 
The  better  opinion  seems  to  be  "  that  the  breaking  and 
entering  a  house  with  the  intention  of  committing  an 
offence  therein,  is  dependent  upon  whether  the  offence  was 


90  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

committed.  If  no  offence  be  committed  in  the  house,  the 
mere  breaking  and  entering  is  an  aggravated  form  of 
simple  trespass  dependent  upon  the  nature  of  the  offence 
intended,  the  time,  and  the  general  circumstances.  If  an 
offence  be  committed  in  the  house,  the  breaking  and  enter- 
ing is  a  mere  aggravation  of  the  offence.  So  if  larceny 
be  committed  therein,  it  is  commonly  a  form  of  robbery 
with  violence  ;  if  rape,  it  is  an  aggravated  form  of  rape  ;  if 
homicide,  it  is  a  case  of  homicide  dependent  upon  attend- 
ant circumstances.  For  the  question  of  aggravation,  the 
entry  is  in  most  cases  an  important  point  to  determine  ;  but 
it  can  hardly  be  said  that  such  technicalities  as  an  actual 
or  constructive  breaking  are  considered.  Again,  purely 
as  a  question  of  aggravation,  to  enter  a  house  by  night  is 
more  serious  than  to  do  so  by  day.  To  enter  a  boat  in 
which  a  person  lives  is  the  same  as  to  enter  a  house." 
(Alabaster.) 

Perjury.  —  In  English  law  perjury  is  defined  as  the 
wilful  giving,  under  oath,  in  a  judicial  proceeding  or 
course  of  justice,  of  false  testimony  material  to  the  issue 
or  point  of  inquiry.  The  definition  of  the  offence  is 
broader  in  Chinese  law.  A  material  difference  is  that  in 
a  Chinese  court  no  oath  is  required,  and  the  statement 
supposed  to  be  false  need  not  be  relevant  to  the  issue.  If 
the  witness  draws  upon  a  too  vivid  imagination  and  makes 
statements  misleading,  whether  relevant  or  irrelevant,  he 
would  be  punished  as  a  liar  by  being  slapped  on  the  cheek 
or  mouth  with  a  leather  slipper,  or  bambooed.  Ordinary 
lying  in  court,  when  not  persisted  in,  and  when  no  conse- 
quences result,  is  punishable  with  a  hundred  blows  only. 
A  mother  enjoys  some  immunity  when  making  a  false 
statement  on  behalf  of  her  child,  and  a  wife  is  apparently 
not  punished  should  she  give  false  evidence  on  behalf  of  a 
husband  or  of  parents  or  an  elder  brother.     There  seems 


LAW  91 

to  be  also  a  special  immunity  from  punishment  enjoyed  by 
relatives  testifying  on  behalf  of  each  other.  As  there  is  a 
mutual  responsibility  between  relatives,  so  the  law  rather 
releases  its  scrutiny  or  vigilance  when  they  are  giving 
evidence  on  each  other's  behalf. 

But  the  punishment  is  more  severe  when  the  person  is 
guilty  of  giving  false  and  malicious  information  whereby 
a  man  is  expressly  charged  with  a  crime,  or  when  he  is 
charged  and  convicted.  "  When  the  accused  person,  having 
been  condemned  upon  such  false  accusation,  shall  have  pro- 
ceeded to  the  place  to  which  he  had  been  sentenced  to  be 
either  temporarily  or  perpetually  banished,  although  he 
should  afterward  have  been  speedily  recalled  on  the  dis- 
covery of  his  innocence,  an  estimate  shall  be  made  and 
verified  before  the  magistrate  of  the  expense  he  may  have 
incurred  by  his  journey,  that  the  false  accuser  may  be 
compelled  to  reimburse  him  to  the  full  amount,  and  the 
false  accuser  shall  likewise  be  compelled  to  redeem,  or  to 
purchase  for  him,  any  lands  or  tenements  which  he  may 
have  sold  or  mortgaged  to  defray  such  expenses,  —  more- 
over, if  such  unmerited  banishment  should  occasion  the 
death  of  any  of  the  relations  of  such  innocent  persons,  who 
may  have  followed  him  to  his  destination,  the  false  accuser 
shall  suffer  death,  by  being  strangled,  and  besides  the 
reimbursement  aforesaid,  half  of  his  remaining  property 
shall  be  forfeited  to  tlie  use  of  the  innocent  person.  When 
any  person  is  accused  of  a  capital  offence,  and  upon  such 
accusation  has  been  condemned  and  executed,  the  false 
accuser  shaU  be  either  strangled  or  beheaded,  according  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  innocent  person  has  been  exe- 
cuted, and  half  his  property  shall  be  forfeited  as  in  the 
preceding  instance."     (Code.) 

I  have  selected  five  of  the  graver  offences  known  to  the 
penal  Code  of  China,  and  pointed  out  the  elements  neces- 


92  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

sary  to  constitute  these  offences.  By  that  course  I  hope 
to  make  it  plain  that,  in  comparison  with  the  definitions  of 
similar  offences  in  English  law,  China  has  a  code  of  laws 
of  her  own  in  which  crime  is  intelligently  defined  and 
adequately  punished.  And  this  Code  of  China  was  pre- 
pared and  in  force  when  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Sax- 
ons were  without  any  code  of  laws  prescribing  what  was 
right  and  punishing  what  was  wrong. 

This  chapter  would  be  extended  to  the  size  of  a  large 
book  were  I  to  name  all  the  minor  offences  which  are 
defined  and  punished  by  the  Code.  If  any  one  desires  to 
examine  fully  into  the  intricacies  of  Chinese  law,  he  has 
only  to  consult  the  excellent  translations  on  the  subject, 
where  he  will  learn  that  China  has  an  orderly  legal  system, 
and  that  the  minor  as  well  as  the  graver  offences  have  not 
escaped  the  grasp  of  her  lawmakers. 

But  as  it  is  my  purpose  to  present  a  few  only  of  the 
leading  principles  of  the  Code  as  indicative  of  its  scope, 
and  in  the  hope  that  I  have  done  so  as  regards  the  criminal 
branch,  I  will  now  follow  the  same  order  of  presentation 
with  regard  to  what  in  English  law  would  be  the  civil 
division. 

In  the  mercantile  law  of  China  attention  must  be  paid 
to  the  regulations  of  the  different  marts  of  trade.  The 
local  authorities  as  a  rule  have  ample  power  to  provide 
regulations  suitable  to  the  particular  place  and  made  with 
due  regard  to  circumstances.  This  has  proved  to  be  the 
policy  which  has  met  conditions  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  Chinese  merchants.  And  in  such  a  policy  the  unyield- 
ing influence  of  custom  in  moulding  laws  is  very  apparent. 

But  there  are  certain  general  principles  that  govern  in 
the  interest  of  general  trade,  though  even  these  are  not  so 
well  defined  as  would  be  expected  of  a  people  having  the 
genius  for  mercantile  pursuits  possessed  by  the  Chinese. 


LAW  93 

In  the  various  marts  of  the  Empire  there  are  licensed 
brokers,  commission  agents,  and  ship-brokers,  the  scope 
and  duties  of  whose  offices  are  defined  and  limited.  To 
prevent  the  abuse  of  any  privilege  each  mart  has  its  own 
regulations,  and  the  record  kept  by  each  is  subject  to 
inspection  every  month  at  the  local  magistracy.  As  an 
additional  guarantee  the  brokers  or  agents  are  selected 
from  among  individuals  of  wealth  and  standing,  who  are 
liable  to  heavy  penalties  if  they  fail  to  perform  their  duties 
with  fidelity  and  honesty.  To  further  safeguard  trade 
the  monopolizing  of  markets  is  provided  against  and 
offenders  are  summarily  punished.  With  reference  to  this 
particular  offence,  "  the  law  is  broad,  comprehensive,  and 
distensible,  so  as  to  include  penalties  against  mercantile 
transactions  generally,  that  are  inimical  to  the  public 
weal."  And  there  are  two  cases  reported  of  imperial  in- 
tervention in  this  class  of  offences.  More  than  once  such 
an  offence  has  been  the  subject  of  a  memorial  directly 
addressed  to  the  Emperor  by  a  censor,  that  has  resulted  in 
vigorous  investigations.  In  the  Ningpo  Northern  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  there  is  a  regulation  in  the  following 
words :  "  It  is  agreed  that  fictitious  buying  and  selling 
being  illegal,  this  Chamber  entirely  interdicts  that  to  its 
members.  If  violations  of  that  law  come  to  our  knowl- 
edge, we  will  transmit  to  the  authorities  the  offender's 
name  ;  assuredly  no  favouritism  will  be  shown." 

The  law  and  regulations  above  referred  to  are  aimed  at 
what,  in  the  language  of  modern  exchanges,  is  known  as 
"speculating  in  futures."  They  were  meant  to  apply 
to  those  who  entered  into  combinations  to  raise  or  depress 
prices  ;  and  to  receive  any  undue  profit  caused  by  the  ma- 
nipulation of  a  market  rendered  the  offender  liable  to  the 
punishment  that  would  be  inflicted  upon  one  convicted 
of  stealing.      Whether  enforced  or  not,  it  is  the  spirit 


94  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

and  intent  of  the  law  of  China  to  guard  the  morality  of 
trade. 

Partnerships.  —  Under  the  laws  of  China  a  partner- 
ship may  be  formed  for  any  legitimate  purpose.  The 
terms  of  the  partnership  are  regulated  and  the  liability  of 
the  partners  fixed  by  the  custom  of  the  locality.  While 
local  custom  may  vary  in  the  great  commercial  centres 
of  the  Empire,  the  courts  decide  questions  arising  out  of 
partnership  transactions  according  to  a  common-sense  view 
of  the  particular  case.  It  is  not  usual  for  all  the  mem- 
bers to  participate  in  the  management  of  the  business,  but 
the  management  is  as  a  rule  intrusted  to  one  member  or 
to  a  manager  who  is  responsible  to  the  outside  world  for 
the  solvency  of  the  partnership.  There  may  be,  and  not 
infrequently  is,  more  than  one  managing  partner,  but 
whether  one  or  more,  the  partners  who  do  not  participate 
in  the  management  are  regarded  as  dormant  partners  or, 
more  accurately,  as  investors  merely.  Such  investors  will 
not  usually  be  held  responsible  for  any  part  of  the  debts. 
They  would  lose  the  capital  they  had  invested,  and  that 
would  be  the  extent  of  the  loss  charged  against  them 
unless  it  could  be  proved  that  they  had  in  some  way  con- 
tributed to  the  failure  of  the  partnership.  But  they  would 
not  only  be  expected,  but  required,  to  do  all  they  could  to 
produce  in  court  the  managing  partner  or  the  manager. 

If  the  partnership  be  one  in  which  all  the  partners  exer- 
cise control  in  the  management,  and  the  terms  be  known, 
then  in  case  of  failure  all  the  partners  would  be  liable,  but 
the  liability  would  be  measured  by  the  share  of  the  debts 
proportionate  to  the  share  of  each  partner  in  the  capital  of 
the  partnership. 

If  a  joint-stock  company  should  be  formed,  the  capital 
of  which  was  represented  by  shares  fully  paid  up,  the 
shareholders  would  not  be  required,  in  the  absence  of  a 


LAW  95 

specific  agreement,  to  contribute  to  the  liquidation  of  the 
debts  of  the  company,  in  the  event  of  failure.  The  moral 
view  is  that  the  company  would  be  regarded  as  a  large 
partnership  in  which  the  directors  would  represent  the 
managing  partners,  and  the  shareholders  the  dormant  part- 
ners or  investors.  The  directors  would  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  whole  of  the  debts,  while  the  shareholders 
would  lose  the  amount  of  their  paid-up  shares.  Certainly 
this  is  a  very  efficient  check  on  directors. 

When  a  managing  partner  is  unable  to  discharge  the 
liabilities  of  the  partnership  with  his  own  funds,  the  ques- 
tion may  arise  how  far  his  interest  in  the  undivided  family 
property,  if  any,  can  be  made  available.  Each  son  or  his 
representative  has  an  equal  share  in  the  family  property, 
but  the  father  has  control  of  it  for  life  and  can  waste  or 
squander  it  as  he  pleases,  and  for  a  grave  moral  turpitude 
he  can,  by  legal  process,  wholly  defeat  the  claim  of  the 
son  to  the  succession.  But  in  determining  this  question 
it  would  appear  as  settled,  that  if  the  managing  partner's 
share  in  the  partnership  had  been  advanced  from  the  family 
property,  and  the  profits  derived  from  the  partnership 
had  been  paid  into  the  family,  a  decree  would  very  proba- 
bly be  entered  against  the  family  property  to  the  extent 
of  the  debtor's  share  in  it.  But  how  the  decree  would 
be  enforced  is  another  question.  It  would  not  be  enforced 
as  in  English  law,  for  Chinese  courts  do  not  as  a  rule 
enforce  their  decrees  or  judgments  by  the  seizure  aud  sale 
of  the  property  of  the  judgment  debtor ;  but  a  warrant  for 
his  arrest  would  be  issued,  and  when  found,  he  would  be 
put  in  prison  and  kept  there  until  the  debt  is  paid.  Such 
proceeding  is  upon  the  principle  that  to  owe  a  debt  and 
to  refuse  or  be  unable  to  pay  it  is  a  criminal  offence  in 
itself,  for  which  the  delinquent  debtor  is  liable  to  be  pun- 
ished.     The  arrest  and  imprisonment  is,  therefore,  the 


96  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

necessary  preliminary  to  the  enforcement  of  a  decree  or 
judgment  of  a  court  in  China,  and  until  the  managing 
partner  of  a  bankrupt  partnership  has  been  arrested,  what- 
ever may  be  his  share  in  the  family  property,  it  is  exempt 
from  interference  or  action.  A  father  is  not  responsible 
for  the  debts  of  a  son,  but  a  son  is  responsible  for  the 
debts  of  his  father,  though  one  brother  cannot  be  held 
liable  for  the  debts  of  another  brother.  The  family  prop- 
erty is  owned  in  common,  not  individually,  and  the  legal 
tenants  are  the  family  council. 

After  the  delinquent  debtor  has  been  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned, the  custom  is  for  the  friends  of  the  creditor  and 
debtor  to  come  together  with  the  view  of  effecting  a  set- 
tlement, and  this  is  usually  effected  by  a  compromise, 
whereupon  the  debtor  is  released. 

If  the  debtor  should  prove  obstinate,  or  the  friends 
should  fail  to  agree  upon  a  compromise,  it  is  known  that 
a  creditor  has  resorted  to  other  means  to  make  the  debtor 
pay  or  to  cause  his  condition  to  be  far  more  serious. 
Sometimes  a  creditor  will  threaten  to  go  and  hang  himself 
or  in  some  other  way  destroy  his  life  if  the  debtor  still  re- 
fuses to  pay.  Should  the  threat  be  carried  into  execution, 
the  debtor  may  be  tried  for  a  serious  offence  and  punished 
accordingly.  But  another  means  of  compelling  payment, 
which  seems  peculiar  to  China,  is  for  the  creditor  to 
go  and  live  in  the  house  of  the  debtor  and  at  the  latter's 
expense  until  he  receives  payment,  and  neither  the  debtor 
nor  his  family  will  venture  to  expel  the  uninvited  guest. 
If  the  family  property  has  been  divided,  then  the  share 
that  would  belong  to  the  debtor  would  be  treated  as  other 
property  owned  by  him,  but  a  creditor  would  have  no 
claim  against  the  other  shares. 

Several  years  ago  the  Chinese  merchants  residing  and 
doing  business  at  Hongkong  presented  a  petition  to  the 


LAW  97 

governor  of  the  British  Colony,  in  which  there  were  sug- 
gestions with  reference  to  alterations  in  the  law  of 
bankruptcy  and  the  compulsory  registration  of  partners 
in  mercantile  firms.  The  following  is  an  extract  : 
"  Chinese  partnership  concerns  in  the  interior  always  use 
the  real  names  in  drawing  up  their  partnership  agree- 
ments. Now,  whereas  according  to  the  Chinese  usage, 
whenever  a  shop  becomes  insolvent,  in  all  cases  the  full 
amount  of  the  deficit  has  to  be  made  good  'pro  rata  by  the 
partners  according  to  the  amount  of  capital  represented 
by  them.  There  is,  therefore,  in  the  interior  no  such 
practice  as  using  fictitious  names.  But  as  in  this  colony, 
the  regulations  pay  no  regard  to  the  number  of  shares  held 
in  each  case,  if  bankruptcy  occurs,  .  .  .  they  should  be 
bound  to  pay  and  make  good  the  amount  of  its  liabili- 
ties. If  any  of  such  chief  partners  have  no  real  property 
in  this  colony,  in  that  case,  whether  the  creditors  be 
foreign  or  Chinese,  the  government  should  consent  to  send 
an  official  communication  to  the  Chinese  authorities  re- 
questing that  the  family  property  which  the  persons 
concerned  may  have  in  the  country  be  ascertained,  se- 
questrated, and  sold  to  provide  the  due  portion  of  the 
amount  to  be  paid." 

This  petition  was  apparently  drawn  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  with  certainty  the  names  and  surnames  of  the 
members  of  a  partnership,  and  this  was  to  be  done  by 
obliging  each  partner  to  register  his  name  or  surname  at 
the  time  when  the  partnership  entered  upon  the  business 
it  was  formed  to  carry  on.  It  was  a  step  in  the  right 
direction  as  it  rendered  all  the  registered  liable  and  did 
not  restrict  liability  to  the  managing  partners  only,  but  it 
still  retained  the  idea  of  a  limited  company,  because  a 
partner  was  only  liable  to  the  amount  of  the  share  he  had 
in  the  partnership.     It  went  another  step  in  the  direction 


98  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

of  making  as  certain  as  possible  that  the  share  of  a  partner 
in  family  property  should  be  sequestrated  and  sold  as  any 
other  property  belonging  to  him.  In  China,  however,  the 
principles  of  the  law  of  partnership  remain  substantially 
as  I  have  stated  them.  And  as  the  family  property  is 
owned  in  common  and  mainly  subject  to  the  decision  of 
the  family  council,  it  would  be  safe  to  conclude  that  no 
share  of  it  could  be  sold  for  the  debts  of  any  owner  in 
common  during  the  lifetime  of  his  father. 

Mortgages.  —  In  English  law  the  written  instrument 
which  conveys  a  title  to  personal  property  is  a  bill  of  sale ; 
that  which  conveys  a  title  to  land  is  a  deed.  In  China 
personal  or  real  property  may  be  mortgaged  to  secure  a 
debt,  as  for  money  loaned,  and  the  practice  in  China  of 
lending  money  upon  landed  security  is  very  ancient. 
The  Code  provides  that  whoever  takes  land  or  tenements 
by  way  of  mortgage  shall  enter  into  a  regular  contract 
which  shall  be  duly  authenticated  and  assessed  with  the 
legal  duty  by  the  proper  registrar.  Omission  to  do  so 
subjects  the  offender  to  fifty  blows  and  the  forfeiture  to 
the  government  of  half  the  consideration  money  of  the 
mortgage.  And  if  the  mortgagor  does  not  transfer  to 
the  mortgagee  unreservedly  the  whole  produce  of  the  land 
upon  which  the  taxes  are  charged  and  made  payable  to 
the  government,  he  shall  be  punished  in  proportion  to  the 
quantity  of  the  land,  which,  in  addition,  shall  be  forfeited 
to  the  government. 

If  by  any  false  pretence  one  attempts  to  raise  money  by 
giving  a  mortgage  on  his  land  which  is  already  mortgaged, 
the  amount  shall  be  ascertained  and  the  offender  punished 
as  in  the  case  of  an  ordinary  theft  to  the  same  extent, 
except  that  he  shall  not  be  liable  to  be  branded.  The 
pecuniary  consideration  thus  received  by  the  fraudulent 
mortgagor  shall  be  returned  to  the  mortgagee,  unless  the 


LAW  99 

mortgagee  himself  was  privy  to  the  fraud,  in  which  case 
it  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  government.  Both  the  mortga- 
gee and  the  negotiator,  or  either,  when  acquainted  with 
the  unlawfulness  of  the  transaction,  shall  receive  the  same 
punishment  as  the  mortgagor,  but  in  all  such  cases  the 
first  and  lawful  mortgagee  shall  remain  in  possession. 

What  is  known  in  English  law  as  the  equity  of  redemp- 
tion is  also  recognized  in  Chinese  law,  and  the  following 
is  an  abstract  of  some  of  the  principal  clauses  in  the  Code 
on  the  subject:  "No  mortgage,  or  redemption  of  lands 
mortgaged,  shall  be  reversed  or  set  aside,  after  it  has  been 
signed  by  all  the  parties  interested,  or  after  it  has  been 
acquiesced  in  by  them  for  five  years.  When  it  is  expressly 
declared  in  the  preamble  of  a  deed  of  sale,  that  the  land 
is  sold  absolutely,  and  not  by  way  of  pledge  or  mortgage, 
and  there  is  no  subjoined  clause  providing  for  the  con- 
tingency of  a  further  payment  to  the  seller,  as  a  considera- 
tion of  his  making  a  sale  absolute  at  a  subsequent  period, 
such  a  deed  of  sale  shall  be  an  effectual  bar  against  all 
claims  whatsoever  of  redemption.  But  if  the  sale  is  not 
expressly  declared  to  be  absolute,  or  if  there  is  a  general 
clause  of  redemption,  or  a  specific  one  of  redemption  at 
any  time  after  the  expiration  of  a  certain  period,  the 
original  proprietor  shall,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
agreement,  be  entitled  to  recover  his  land  upon  repay- 
ment of  the  consideration  for  which  it  was  pledged  or 
mortgaged.  If  the  original  proprietor,  at  the  end  of  the 
period  specified  in  the  contract,  is  still  unable  to  discharge 
the  mortgage,  it  shall  be  at  his  option,  either  to  retain  his 
right  to  a  recovery  of  his  land,  at  any  future  period,  or  to 
surrender  it,  and  make  the  sale  absolute,  in  consideration 
of  the  receipt  of  a  further  sum  to  be  agreed  upon  by  him 
and  the  mortgagee,  or  between  arbitrators  duly  appointed 
by  the  parties.     If  they  cannot  agree  upon  the  terms,  the 


100  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

mortgagee  shall  have  the  option  of  either  continuing  in 
possession,  or  of  reimbursing  himself,  by  remortgaging 
the  land  to  some  other  person,  the  right  of  redemption 
remaining  as  before  in  the  actual  proprietor.  It  is,  how- 
ever, provided  that  all  deeds  of  sale  which  are  doubtful, 
or  imperfect,  owing  to  the  tenor  of  the  preamble,  but 
which  contain  no  clause  of  redemption,  shall,  if  not  ques- 
tioned or  objected  to  for  thirty  years  from  the  date 
thereof,  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes  absolute.  Those 
lands  which  have  been  allotted  on  the  tenure  of  military 
service  cannot  be  pledged  or  mortgaged,  but  may  be  let 
for  any  term  not  exceeding  three  years." 

A  distinction  between  mortgaging  and  pledging  land 
is  made  in  Chinese  law.  When  the  land  is  pledged  as 
security  for  value  received,  its  use  and  income  are  sur- 
rendered in  lieu  of  interest;  and  when  the  money  bor- 
rowed by  virtue  of  the  pledge  is  repaid,  the  land  is  fully 
redeemed.  If  the  land  pledged  should  not  be  redeemed 
in  ten  years,  the  pledge  must  be  converted  into  a  sale  by  a 
new  contract. 

The  essential  difference  between  a  pledge  and  a  mort- 
gage is,  that  when  land  is  pledged,  the  debtor  delivers  it 
to  the  creditor,  but  pays  no  interest  on  the  money  bor- 
rowed, the  creditor  accepting  the  enjoyment  of  the  pos- 
session of  the  land  and  the  income  in  place  of  interest, 
whereas  in  a  mortgage  the  debtor  only  secures  the  debt 
on  the  land  and  pays  interest,  but  does  not  deliver  pos- 
session. The  creditor  has  only  an  action  against  the 
land  if  the  debt  is  not  repaid  by  the  debtor.  This  refers 
to  land  mortgaged  for  money  loaned  and  not  to  another 
form  of  mortgage  where  the  mortgagee  enters  into  pos- 
session as  explained  in  the  chapter  on  Tenure  and  Trans- 
fer of  Property.  As  already  indicated,  either  real  or 
personal  property  may  be  mortgaged  or  pledged  ;    but 


LAW  101 

the  custom  is,  when  it  is  desired  to  raise  money  on  per- 
sonal property,  to  put  it  in  pawn  with  one  of  the  many 
pawnshops  scattered  throughout  the  Empire.  When 
property  is  pledged,  the  contracting  parties  exchange  two 
instruments  in  writing,  one  of  which  is  signed  by  the 
party  delivering  the  property,  and  the  other  by  the  party 
receiving  it. 

Interest.  —  "  Whoever  lends  his  money  or  other  property 
of  value,  in  order  to  derive  a  profit  from  such  transaction, 
shall  be  limited  to  the  receipt  of  interest  on  the  amount 
or  value  of  the  loan,  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent  per 
month,  and,  whatever  the  period  of  years  or  months  may 
be,  upon  which  is  due  at  the  day  of  repayment,  no  more 
shall  be  received  or  demanded  than  the  original  sum  lent, 
and  the  lawful  interest  thereon,  to  any  amount  not  ex- 
ceeding the  principal."    (Code.) 

The  above  provision  which  I  have  copied  word  for 
word  from  the  Code  clearly  states  the  legal  rate  of  inter- 
est in  China,  and  there  is  a  provision  immediately  follow- 
ing which  punishes  transgressors  of  this  law  with  forty 
blows  for  every  offence  "  and  as  much  more  severely  as 
may  be  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  the  excess  of 
interest,"  though  punishment  shall  not  in  any  case  exceed 
one  hundred  blows.  And  "on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
debtor  does  not  fulfil  his  agreement  with  the  creditor, 
both  in  respect  to  repayment  of  the  principal  and  the 
payment  of  the  lawful  interest,  he  shall  be  liable  to 
punishment,"  according  to  the  following  scale :  — 

"  If  three  months  after  the  stipulated  period,  he  falls 
short  of  the  amount  due  his  creditor  by  five  liang  or 
upward,  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  punishment  of  ten  blows, 
and  to  an  increase  of  punishment  at  the  rate  of  one 
degree  for  every  additional  month  of  delay,  as  far  as  forty 
blows. 


102  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

"  If  three  months  after  the  stipulated  period  he  falls 
short  of  the  amount  due  his  creditor  by  fifty  liang  or 
upward,  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  punishment  of  twenty 
blows,  and  to  an  increase  of  punishment  at  the  rate  of  one 
degree  for  every  additional  month  of  delay,  as  far  as  fifty 
blows. 

"  If  lastly,  three  months  after  the  stipulated  period,  he 
falls  short  of  the  amount  due  his  creditor,  by  one  hundred 
liang  or  upward,  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  punishment  of 
thirty  blows,  and  to  an  increase  of  punishment  at  the  rate 
of  one  degree  for  every  additional  month  of  delay  as  far 
as  the  limit  of  sixty  blows,  and  in  this  as  well  as  in  the 
preceding  cases  the  debtor  shall  continue  responsible  for 
the  amount  of  the  principal  and  interest  lawfully  due." 
(Code.) 

There  is  an  express  provision  punishing  the  creditor 
who  attempts  to  collect  his  debt  by  irregular  means,  such 
as  seizing  the  property  of  the  debtor,  accepting  his  wives 
or  children  in  pledge  for  payment,  or  seizing  by  force  and 
carrying  off  the  wives  or  children  of  the  debtor.  In  the 
latter  instance,  if  the  creditor  be  guilty  of  criminal  inter- 
course with  the  females  so  seized,  he  shall  suffer  death,  but 
when  the  wives  or  children  are  accepted  and  not  seized, 
and  the  creditor  has  criminal  intercourse  with  the  females, 
he  then  receives  severe  corporal  punishment  only. 

In  the  case  of  Cheng  Ch'ien  Ts'ai,  a  creditor  seized  six 
cows  owned  jointly  by  the  debtor  and  the  debtor's  brother, 
and  killed  the  debtor  in  the  course  of  the  robbery,  the 
Board  insisted  upon  the  homicide  being  considered  as 
happening  in  the  course  of  an  ordinary  affray,  and  not  in 
the  course  of  robbery,  inasmuch  as  the  debtor  had  an 
interest  in  the  cattle,  and  the  creditor  clearly  seized  them 
more  or  less  in  consequence  of  being  unable  to  recover 
his  just  rights.     The  principle  is  that  the  creditor  must 


LAW  103 

not  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands.  A  not  uncommon 
solution  of  the  difficulty,  says  Alabaster,  is  for  a  creditor 
to  hang  himself  outside  his  debtor's  door,  and  get  the 
latter  strangled  for  it. 

The  legal  procedure  to  recover  the  debt  is  to  present 
a  petition  to  the  necessary  effect  to  the  magistrate,  who 
thereupon  furnishes  an  officer  with  a  warrant  to  collect 
the  money.  Armed  with  this  warrant  the  officer  arrests 
the  debtor,  and  keeps  him  in  custody  until  the  debt  is 
paid,  or  if  there  be  a  delay  in  payment,  he,  with  a  view 
to  expediting  it,  takes  the  debtor  from  time  to  time  to  the 
magistrate  to  receive  a  certain  amount  of  castigation. 

But  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  understood  that  the  highest 
rate  of  legal  interest  allowed  by  law  is  always  charged. 
There  are  two  considerations  which  generally  influence 
the  rate,  and  they  are  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  the 
use  of  the  money,  and  the  amount  of  risk  which  the  lender 
takes  in  advancing  the  loan.  If  the  condition  of  business 
is  prosperous,  of  course  the  rate  will  not  be  high,  nor  will 
the  rate  be  high  when  the  business  or  pecuniary  situation 
of  the  borrower  is  high  class,  and  the  risk  consequently 
small,  and  when  loanable  capital  is  plentiful.  These  are 
the  fundamental  considerations  which  materially  govern 
the  rate  of  interest  to  be  charged  in  business  transactions 
in  China,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  in  one  business  centre 
the  rate  may  be  low,  while  in  another  it  may  be  high. 
And  as  each  business  centre  has  its  own  peculiar  trade 
regulations,  so  the  charges  for  the  use  of  money  are  fixed 
accordingly,  and  the  law  does  not  propose  to  do  more 
than  establish  the  maximum  rate  and  enforce  any  agree- 
ment the  parties  may  have  made.  If  the  terms  of  the 
agreement  are  not  complied  with,  the  offender  is  punished, 
thus  illustrating  the  general  feature  which  governs  in  the 
civil  as  well  as  in  the  criminal  law.     "Those  who  have 


104  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

observed  attentively  the  manners  and  institutions  of  China 
have  been  struck  by  two  things  very  fit  to  attract  atten- 
tion. On  the  one  hand,  the  generally  penal  character  of 
the  Celestial  Empire.  Every  ordinance  of  the  law,  every 
regulation,  is  made  under  penal  sanction,  not  only  in 
criminal  affairs,  but  also  in  matters  generally  civil.  All 
irregularities,  faults,  or  negligence,  and  so  forth,  that  in 
European  legislation  would  entail  only  forfeitures,  inca- 
pacities, errors,  or  some  slight  civil  reparation,  are  pun- 
ished in  China  by  a  certain  number  of  strokes  of  the 
bamboo.  On  the  other  hand  we  find  all  China  with  its 
ofiBcial  religion,  its  public  and  private  ceremonial,  its 
political  institutions,  its  police  and  administration,  and 
its  vast  population  governed  on  the  one  single  prin- 
ciple of  filial  piety,  a  principle  which  has  extended  to  the 
respect  due  to  the  Emperor,  and  his  delegates,  and  which 
is  in  reality  little  less  than  the  worship  of  ancient  institu- 
tions."    (Hue.) 

In  a  subsequent  chapter  on  the  Tenure  and  Transfer  of 
Property,  other  principles  of  the  laws  of  China  will  be 
referred  to,  and  the  law  which  governs  the  relations  of 
the  family  will  also,  because  of  its  supreme  importance, 
be  made  the  subject  of  a  separate  chapter.  I  will  con- 
clude this  with  some  extracts  which  have  been  translated 
from  a  "  Chinese  Collection  of  Leading  Cases  "  by  J.  W. 
Jamieson,  with  his  own  comments  interspersed,  the  deci- 
sions of  which,  having  been  carefully  revised  and  approved 
by  the  central  government,  are  held  to  establish  prece- 
dents whose  validity  is  equal  to  statute  law  ;  — 

Restitution  of  Stolen  Property.  —  (1)  All  persons 
accused  of  theft  or  robbery  shall,  on  being  sentenced,  be 
subjected  by  the  official  concerned  to  a  rigorous  examina- 
tion as  to  whether  or  not  they  are  in  a  position  to  make 
restitution.      Should  it  be  clearly  proved  that  they  are 


LAW  105 

unable  to  do  so,  a  solemn  declaration  to  that  effect  is  to 
be  made  out,  and,  together  with  a  report  of  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  submitted  through  the  higher  authori- 
ties to  the  throne.  The  greater  proportion  of  criminals 
of  this  class  belong  to  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and  it 
would  be  useless  to  subject  them  to  imprisonment  until 
able  to  pay.  By  this  means,  however,  they  can  be  dis- 
missed after  execution  of  sentence. 

Defaulting  officials  must  in  all  cases  be  detained  in 
prison  for  over  a  year,  during  which  time  severe  pressure 
is  to  be  brought  to  bear  on  them,  and  only  if,  after  the 
expiry  of  this  period,  it  be  proved  that  the  offender  is 
absolutely  unable  to  refund,  can  application  be  made  to 
the  throne  to  consider  and  decide  what  course  is  then  to 
be  pursued.  Otherwise  it  would  be  very  easy  for  officials 
to  plead  inability  to  pay,  trusting  so  to  get  off  and  enjoy 
the  ill-gotten  gains  they  had,  in  the  meantime,  carefully 
concealed. 

(2)  Sun  Ying-feng,  a  cashiered  brigadier-general,  appro- 
priated taels  130  of  the  public  funds,  and  by  bribery  and 
corruption  amassed  a  further  sum  of  taels  1450. 

He  was  brought  to  trial  and  banished  to  Hi,  an  order 
being  issued  for  the  recovery  of  both  sums  from  his  wife 
and  family  ;  this  sentence  received  imperial  sanction,  and 
the  case  was  closed. 

Some  time  afterward  the  governor  of  Hunan,  in  a 
memorial,  prayed  that  proceedings  be  stayed  as  the  family 
were  in  a  state  of  abject  poverty  and  quite  unable  to  make 
any  restitution. 

In  consequence  hereof  the  repayment  of  the  sum  ob- 
tained by  bribery  and  corruption  was  not  insisted  on, 
especially  as  more  than  a  year  had  elapsed  from  the  time 
when  proceedings  were  first  commenced. 

The  other  sum  of  taels  130,  being  public  money,  could 


106  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

not,  however,  be  dealt  with  in  the  same  way,  and  as 
it  appeared  that  Sun  had  embezzled  this  money  while 
stationed  at  Ch'ao-chow,  the  governor  of  Canton  was 
instructed  to  devise  some  means  of  making  good  the 
amount. 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  money  appropriated 
from  the  government  chest  (or  as  it  is  technically  called 
Kwan  Kuan  Tsang  in  contradistinction  to  money  obtained 
by  squeezing,  which  is  known  as  Ju  Kuan  Tsang)  must 
be  made  good,  if  not  by  the  culprit  himself,  then  by  the 
district  of  which  he  was  in  charge. 

An  extract  from  the  Code  is  likewise  quoted  to  the 
effect  that  in  all  cases  where  the  amount  of  Kwan  Kuan 
Tsang  exceeds  taels  10  and  that  of  Ju  Kuan  Tsang 
taels  20,  the  delinquent  is  to  be  imprisoned  and  subjected 
to  pressure  {chien  cMu)  for  a  period  of  over  a  year.  See 
paragraph  (1). 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  funds  appropriated  by 
officials,  or  otherwise  made  away  with  and  recovered  with 
a  previous  reference  to  the  board,  are  styled  appropriated 
and  reported  ;  those  recovered  by  the  officials  on  their  own 
responsibility,  appropriated  but  not  reported.  Of  these  lat- 
ter a  table  is  to  be  drawn  up  and  sent  in  at  the  beginning  of 
every  year,  within  the  first  two  months  after  the  opening 
of  the  seals. 

(3)  It  frequently  occurs  that,  owing  to  remissness  on 
the  part  of  the  district  magistrate,  robbers  are  allowed 
for  long  periods  to  go  unpunished,  and  it  is  the  practice 
in  such  cases  to  make  the  magistrate  himself  responsible 
for  the  amount  carried  off,  to  the  undermentioned  extent. 

Where  the  robber  is  arrested,  but  none  of  the  stolen 
property  recovered,  and  the  latter  does  not  exceed  taels 
100,  the  magistrate  shall  make  good  the  whole  amount. 
Where  the  value  of  the  property  stolen  exceeds  taels  100, 


LAW  107 

he  shall  be  called  upon  to  make  good  from  ten  to  twenty 
per  cent,  according  to  his  means.  If  the  magistrate,  how- 
ever, succeed  in  recovering  any  of  the  stolen  property,  no 
matter  how  little,  he  shall  not  be  held  responsible  for  the 
remainder.  It  is  likewise  ruled  that  all  goods  belonging 
to  the  robber  shall,  on  recovery,  be  handed  over  without 
reserve  to  the  party  robbed.  This  does  not  apply  to  cases 
of  thieving  or  petty  larceny. 

The  object  of  this  system  of  holding  officials  responsible 
is  to  insure  their  prompt  action  whenever  a  case  of  rob- 
bery is  reported,  as  otherwise  the  robber  is  given  time  to 
make  off  with  his  booty  and  spend  it,  to  the  serious  loss 
and  inconvenience  of  the  party  robbed.  The  responsibility 
of  the  official  can,  however,  only  be  fixed  after  the  arrest 
of  the  criminal  and  after  an  acknowledgment  by  the  latter 
that  the  list  of  stolen  property  handed  in  by  the  party 
robbed  is  correct,  as  it  would  be  manifestly  unfair  to  cause 
restitution  to  be  made  on  the  basis  of  fictitious  values,  and 
thus  to  expose  the  official  to  the  designs  of  unscrupulous 
persons,  who  would  not  hesitate  to  exaggerate  greatly  the 
amount  of  which  they  had  been  robbed,  or  even  go  to  the 
length  of  reporting  robberies  which  had  never  taken 
place  at  all. 

Should  an  official  be  ordered  to  make  good  an  amount, 
such  as  the  above,  but,  before  having  made  payment,  be 
degraded  to  a  lower  rank  for  some  other  offence,  or  die, 
the  matter  may  be  allowed  to  drop. 

Fraudulent  Sale  of  Lands  and  Tenements.  —  (1)  Li 
Sheng,  the  proprietor  of  a  coal-mine  in  the  Peking  district, 
being  on  account  of  illness  unable  to  look  after  it  himself, 
appointed  Chang  Yung-sheng  to  manage  it  for  him.  The 
latter  asked  for  some  written  authority  that  he  might 
produce,  if  called  on  to  do  so,  and  fraudulently  induced 
Li  to  sign  a  document  giving  him  the  mine.     He  then 


108  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

inserted  his  own  name  in  the  contract  with  the  workmen, 
who  duly  appended  their  signatures  thereto. 

As  he  had  received  instructions  from  Li  to  look  after 
the  mine  and  in  addition  had  written  authority  to  that 
effect,  his  offence  is  not  quite  so  aggravated  as  that  of 
wrongfully  taking  possession  of  the  estate  of  others,  and 
he  was  accordingly  sentenced  to  a  punishment  one  degree 
less  severe  than  that  for  the  latter  crime  ;  namely,  one 
hundred  blows  and  banishment  for  three  years. 

(2)  An  Ch'i-se  held,  on  lease  from  one  of  the  imperial 
princesses,  ninety-nine  mow  of  land  which  had  been  allotted 
to  her  by  imperial  decree  and  was  thus  government  prop- 
erty, so  to  speak.  He  was  repeatedly  called  upon  by  the  pre- 
fect to  give  up  the  land  and  pay  the  due  rent,  and  on 
being  arrested,  made  his  escape.  After  a  few  years  he 
returned  and  again  took  possession  of  the  land,  alleging 
it  to  be  his  own  property  and  refusing  to  pay  rent  for  it, 
at  the  same  time  inducing  the  other  tenants  to  pursue  a 
similar  course.  In  accordance  with  the  punishment  due 
to  all  those  who  take  possession  of  land  in  a  government 
settlement,  if  it  be  over  fifty  mow  in  extent,  he  was  sentenced 
to  transportation  to  the  nearest  frontier. 

(3)  T'ung  Wu,  a  small  official  in  the  Nei  Wu  Fu,  had 
a  piece  of  ground  which  he  gave  up  to  the  government, 
by  whom  it  was  entered  on  the  banner  roll  as  public  prop- 
erty, and  as  such  it  could  not  of  course  be  disposed  of  by 
private  sale. 

It  was  lent  to  him  shortly  afterward  to  build  a  house 
on,  when  he  took  the  opportunity  of  selling  it,  alleging  it 
to  be  min-ti  (private  land).  For  this  he  was  punished  in 
accordance  with  the  number  of  stripes  allotted  to  all  who 
fraudulently  dispose  of  other  people's  property,  increased 
by  two  degrees,  as  the  property  he  had  disposed  of  be- 
longed to  the  government. 


LAW  109 

(4)  Huang  T'ien-jung,  a  soldier  who  had  been  dis- 
missed from  the  service,  although  well  aware  of  the  law 
applying  to  uncultivated  ground  (the  expression  used  is 
uncultivated  ground,  and  signifies  government  property, 
on  which  no  trespassing  is  allowed),  forcibly  took  posses- 
sion of  a  piece  of  such  land  and  let  it  out  to  a  tenant, 
who  paid  him  rent  as  if  it  were  his  own.  It  appeared, 
however,  that  his  late  grandfather  had  been  the  first  to 
cultivate  the  ground  and  raise  a  crop  on  it,  so  that  he 
could  hardly  be  punished  to  the  full  extent  for  his  offence, 
and  his  punishment  was  reduced  by  one  degree;  but  as 
he  was  an  ex-soldier,  this  reduction  was  counterbalanced 
by  the  increase  of  one  degree,  which  falls  on  such  in- 
dividuals. 

(5)  Sien  I-yueh  took  possession  of  land  which  had 
formed  in  the  middle  of  a  river,  and  proceeded  to  sell  the 
same.  On  the  appearance,  however,  of  a  proclamation  by 
the  district  magistrate  forbidding  such  practice,  he  dis- 
continued selling.  As  his  case  differed  from  that  of  those 
who  fraudulently  take  possession  of  government  and 
other  people's  property,  his  punishment  was  reduced  by 
one  degree. 

(6)  Hsu  Pao-chow  bought  a  piece  of  land  from  Hsu 
Chueh-wen,  although  at  the  time  aware  of  the  fact  that 
this  ground  was  part  of  a  lot  which  had  descended  by  in- 
heritance to  the  whole  of  the  Hsu  family,  which  Chueh- 
wen  had  no  right  to  sell,  notwithstanding  his  statement 
to  the  effect  that  it  was  "reformed  land,"  which  had  been 
duly  entered  on  the  register.  There  is  no  provision  made 
in  the  law  regulating  the  punishment  of  those  who  buy 
land,  although 'aware  of  the  fraudulent  nature  of  the  trans- 
action; but  in  the  law  of  mortgages  it  is  laid  down  that  if 
the  mortgagee  is  aware  that  the  mortgagor  is  raising  a 
second  mortgage  on  a  piece  of  land,  and  notwithstanding 


110  CHINA   IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

such  knowledge  closes  the  transaction,  his  guilt  shall  be 
held  equal  to  that  of  the  mortgagor  ;  so  in  the  present 
case  Hsu  Pao-chow's,  the  buyer's  guilt,  was  held  to  be 
equal  to  that  of  Hsu  Chueh-wen,  the  seller. 

(7)  Wang  Ch'ao-tso  mortgaged  a  piece  of  land  to  Chow 
P'ing-fu,  reserving  to  himself  the  right  of  redemption. 
As  the  soil  was  extremely  fertile,  Chow  tried  to  get  pos- 
session of  it  in  the  following  way  :  he  made  an  exact 
copy  of  the  deed  of  mortgage,  and  fraudulently  inserted 
the  following  clause,  "Should  the  mortgagor  through 
lack  of  funds  be  unable  to  redeem  the  land,  the  mort- 
gagee is  permitted  to  pay  the  land  tax  on  it  in  his 
stead,"  hoping  that  if  his  payment  of  the  land  tax  were 
officially  sanctioned,  he  would  be  able  to  debar  Wang 
from  redeeming  the  property.  In  summing  up  the  case, 
it  was  held  that,  as  he,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  an  interest 
in  the  land,  his  conduct  was  not  so  reprehensible  as  if  he 
had  taken  possession  by  a  fictitious  agreement,  without 
due  pecuniary  consideration,  of  the  land  of  another,  and 
his  punishment  was  accordingly  reduced  by  one  degree. 

Note.  —  It  will  be  seen  that  this  case  is  a  further  illustration  of 
the  fact  that,  in  the  absence  of  other  documents,  duly  stamped  offi- 
cial receipts  for  land  tax  paid,  form  a  fairly  valid  title. 

(8)  Ch'u  Chin-hsi  was  employed  by  Chile-changer  to 
look  after  his  ancestral  tombs,  but  took  the  opportunity  of 
mortgaging,  for  pecuniary  consideration,  twenty-five  mow 
of  adjoining  ground  which  had  been  set  apart  to  defray 
the  costs  of  sacrifices.  As  no  provision  is  made  for  such 
an  offence  ;  namely,  that  of  a  servant  mortgaging  part  of 
his  master's  burial-ground,  he  was  sentenced  to  punish- 
ment in  accordance  with  the  rules  laid  down  for  punishing 
sons  and  grandsons  who  mortgage  part  of  the  ancestral 
grave  property. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FAMILY  LAW 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  the  most  important  in 
the  legal  Code  of  China.  It  would  be  impossible  to  under- 
stand or  appreciate  the  customs  and  laws  of  the  Chinese 
without  some  knowledge  of  their  family  life.  In  China 
the  family  is  the  centre  about  which  everything  revolves. 
More  than  any  other  institution  it  has  contributed  to  shap- 
ing the  history  and  maintaining  the  long  life  of  the  Em- 
pire. Whatever  is  conservative  in  Chinese  character  is 
directly  traceable  to  family  influence,  and  during  all  the 
centuries  through  which  China  has  lived  that  influence 
has  been  fundamental  and  sustaining. 

In  Chinese  law  the  term  "  family "  has  a  very  compre- 
hensive meaning,  and  its  full  significance  is  determined  as 
much  by  custom  as  by  law.  The  family  embraces  all  the 
members  of  the  same  household  that  stand  under  one 
head.  There  is  no  distinction  between  those  who  have 
entered  the  family  through  marriage  or  adoption,  and  ser- 
vants and  slaves  and  the  children  of  such  are  embraced  in 
the  membership.  There  is  a  certain  kind  of  relationship 
existing  between  the  members,  regardless  of  how  each 
entered  the  family,  and  this  relationship  carries  with 
it  a  degree  of  responsibility  measured  by  custom  Avhich  is 
inseparably  mixed  in  the  Chinese  mind  with  law. 

The  idea  of  a  family  is  usually  preceded  by  that  of 
marriage,  but  not  necessarily,  and  in  China,  by  reason  of 
the  principle  of  adoption  and  concubinage,  large  families 

111 


112  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCB 

are  not  unusual  when  there  has  been  no  marriage  in  the 
legal  sense  of  the  Code. 

Neither  custom  nor  law  allows  a  Chinese  to  have  more 
than  one  legal  wife,  and  if  he  transgresses  he  would  be  as 
promptly  punished  under  the  Code  as  if  convicted  of  big- 
amy under  English  law.  But  while  forbidden  to  have 
more  than  one  legal  wife,  he  may  have  as  many  concubines 
as  he  feels  able  to  take  care  of,  and  there  is  this  peculiarity 
that  his  legal  wife  is  selected  for  him,  while  his  concubines 
are  chosen  by  himself. 

The  Code  does  not  prescribe  any  age  for  marriage,  but 
it  is  an  established  custom  that  males  marry  when  over 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  that  females  are  rarely  given  in 
marriage  before  their  fifteenth  year.  Modern  legislation 
has  prescribed  a  certain  age  at  which  puberty  is  supposed 
to  be  attained,  and  named  that  age  for  the  candidates  as 
a  prerequisite  to  marriage  ;  but  such  a  prerequisite  is  not 
known  to  the  law  of  China.  The  belief  that  once  prevailed 
that  puberty  is  attained  at  an  earlier  age  in  hot  than  in 
temperate  climates  has  been  discredited  by  later  investiga- 
tions, and  it  is  now  established  as  a  scientific  fact  that  in 
China  puberty  commences  at  about  the  same  age  as  in 
Europe.  And  also  the  belief  that  early  marriages  are 
common  in  China  is  just  as  far  from  being  accurate. 

It  is  the  custom  to  provide  early  in  life  a  suitable  wife 
for  the  son  and  a  suitable  husband  for  the  daughter,  and 
this  may  be  done  during  infancy,  or  even  in  anticipation 
of  birth,  but  it  is  not  the  practice  for  the  marriage  to  take 
place  until  their  characters  are  formed. 

When  the  candidates  for  matrimony  are  of  sufficient  age, 
and  it  is  intended  that  the  marriage  be  contracted,  there 
shall  be  a  clear  explanation  and  understanding  between  the 
families  directly  interested.  The  candidates  themselves 
are  not  consulted  and,  as  is   probable,  may  never  have 


FAMILY   LAW  113 

met.  The  preliminary  inquiries  refer  to  the  health  and 
ages  of  the  candidates,  and  to  the  question  whether  they 
are  children  of  their  parents  by  blood  or  by  adoption.  If 
an  objection  be  made  at  this  stage  by  either  of  the  con- 
tracting families,  the  proceedings  shall  be  carried  no 
farther;  but  if  they  approve,  then  the  marriage  articles 
are  drawn  up  and  the  amount  of  the  marriage  presents 
determined  upon. 

It  is  not  usual,  however,  for  the  preliminary  proceedings 
to  be  conducted  by  the  contracting  families.  There  are 
invariably  mutual  friends  of  the  families  who  perform  that 
office,  and  who  are  known  as  negotiators  or  go-betweens,  a 
principle  which  not  only  governs  in  this  highest  and  most 
sacred  contract,  but  in  almost  every  other  contract  or  deal- 
ing in  which  Chinese  are  the  parties. 

There  is  to  be  no  trifling  or  flirting  after  the  affiance 
has  been  regularly  made.  If  the  family  of  the  intended 
bride  should  repent  having  entered  into  the  contract  and 
refuse  to  execute  it,  the  person  amongst  them  who  had 
authority  to  give  her  away  shall  receive  fifty  blows,  and 
the  marriage  shall  be  completed  in  accordance  with  the 
original  contract.  And  to  justify  the  punishment  as  well 
as  the  enforcement  of  the  contract,  it  is  not  necessary 
that  it  be  reduced  to  writing.  It  will  be  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  the  agreement  between  the  parties  if  the  mar- 
riage presents  have  been  accepted. 

The  rule  works  both  ways.  If  the  family  of  the  in- 
tended bridegroom,  after  having  agreed  to  the  contract, 
repents  thereof,  or  seeks  to  avoid  it  by  making  marriage 
presents  to  another  woman,  a  similar  punishment  shall  be 
inflicted  on  the  person  among  them  who  had  authority  to 
give  him  awaj',  as  in  the  case  of  the  bride,  and  the  mar- 
riage shall  be  completed  in  accordance  with  the  original 
contract. 


114  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  law  has  in  view  the  requirement  of  the  utmost  good 
faith  in  the  marriage  negotiations  and  the  fulfilment  of 
the  stipulations  of  the  marriage  contract.  It  will  not 
tolerate  deception  of  any  kind,  nor  will  it  permit  a 
marriage  contract  to  be  annulled,  except  for  causes  spe- 
cially provided  for,  which  will  be  stated  hereafter.  As 
the  affianced  parties  have  no  share  in  the  negotiations, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  respective  families  are  held  respon- 
sible, and  that  the  penalty  for  any  unseemly  conduct 
attaches  to  them  and  to  the  negotiators  or  go-betweens 
when  they  have  not  been  open  and  frank  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties  as  prescribed  by  custom. 

After  the  marriage  the  husband  may  proceed,  if  he  has 
not  already  done  so,  to  fill  his  house  with  as  many  concu- 
bines as  he  feels  competent  to  support ;  but  there  can  be 
but  one  wife  in  the  house,  and  she  is  the  superior  female 
in  rank  and  authority.  The  children  born  in  such  a  home, 
whether  the  children  of  the  legal  wife  or  of  the  concubines, 
are  considered  the  children  of  the  former,  and  they  regard 
the  legal  wife  as  their  mother. 

The  husband  is  permitted  to  choose  his  concubines  from 
females  of  any  grade.  He  cannot  force  a  woman,  how- 
ever low  her  grade  in  the  scale  of  life,  to  become  a  concu- 
bine ;  but,  if  willing,  he  may  choose  a  slave,  and  all  the 
concubines  are  of  even  rank  among  themselves.  The 
Code  is  explicit  in  denying  to  the  husband  the  right  to 
degrade  his  wife  to  the  rank  of  a  concubine  and  fixes  the 
punishment  should  he  attempt  so  to  degrade  her ;  but  there 
are  some  authorities  who  have  concluded  that  for  sufiicient 
reason  the  wife  may  be  degraded.  I  rather,  however, 
incline  to  the  opinion  that,  when  the  reason  would  be 
sufficient  to  empower  the  husband  thus  to  humble  his 
wife  in  her  own  home,  he  would  have  the  right  to  divorce 
her,  which  would  be  more  honourable  to   him  and  less 


FAMILY   LAW  115 

degrading  to  the  family.  The  language  of  the  Code  is: 
"  Whoever  degrades  his  first  or  principal  wife  to  the  con- 
dition of  an  inferior  wife  or  concubine,  shall  be  punished 
with  one  hundred  blows.  Whoever,  during  the  lifetime 
of  his  first  wife,  raises  an  inferior  wife  to  the  rank  and 
condition  of  a  first  wife,  shall  be  punished  with  ninety 
blows,  and  in  both  cases,  each  of  the  several  wives  shall 
be  replaced  in  the  rank  to  which  she  was  originally  entitled 
upon  her  marriage." 

Of  the  absolute  impediments  to  marriage,  it  has  been 
noted  that,  while  the  law  gives  no  age  for  the  male  or 
female,  custom  has  named  the  age  for  each,  which  is 
generally  respected,  so  much  so  as  to  become  the  rule, 
with  very  few  exceptions.  Custom  further  recommends 
suitability  of  age  on  the  part  of  the  contracting  parties, 
and  opposes  marriages  between  young  girls  and  old  men, 
as  it  also  does  marriage  before  the  age  when  puberty  is 
usually  attained.  If  no  notice  has  been  given  in  the 
marriage  contract,  disease  and  other  defects,  'such  as 
insanity,  deafness,  and  dumbness,  would  be  classed  as 
absolute  impediments.  A  eunuch,  of  course,  is  not  per- 
mitted to  marry.  As  he  is  compelled  to  serve  and  live 
in  the  palace,  that  office  alone  would  debar  him  from 
marrying,  if  nature  or  the  hand  of  man  had  not  unfitted 
him  for  married  life.  But  there  are  eunuchs  who  were 
the  fathers  of  children  before  their  mutilation,  and  such 
may  obtain  permission  to  visit  their  families.  And  one 
who  has  resided  in  Peking  long,  and  has  taken  the  trouble 
to  study  the  intrigue  of  palace  life,  need  not  be  informed 
that  a  eunuch  has,  more  than  once,  acquired  the  influence 
and  power  to  direct  the  policy  of  the  central  government, 
and  the  greatest  nobles  of  the  Empire  have  thought  it 
prudent  not  to  oppose  openly  such  influence.  When 
a  eunuch  has  risen  to  such  a  height  of  honour  and  influ- 


116  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ence,  he  will  probably  crown  it  by  taking  a  wife  pro 
forma^  and  adopt  a  son  for  the  succession. 

There  are  several  impediments  to  marriage  on  account 
of  relationship,  and  it  is  always  implied  that  those  who 
bear  the  same  family  name  are  related.  At  one  period  of 
Chinese  history  the  number  of  families  may  have  been  the 
same  as  the  number  of  clans.  The  idea  is  at  present  alive 
to  the  extent  that  marriage  within  the  clan,  as  well  as 
within  the  family,  is  forbidden.  If  the  grade  of  relation- 
ship is  agnatic,  the  marriage  is  prohibited.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  George  Jamieson  that  while  cognates  cannot 
marry  any  one  of  the  generation  above  or  below,  they 
may  marry  any  one  of  the  same  generation,  but  not 
agnate.  For  the  relationship  by  adoption,  says  Mollen- 
dorff,  the  prohibition  does  not  remain  in  force  after  the 
first  adoption  has  been  dissolved  by  a  new  one. 

There  is  no  impediment,  as  relatives,  to  marriage  between 
the  husband  and  his  wife's  sister.  Before  2000  B.C.  the 
Emperor  Shun  married  the  two  daughters  of  Yao,  and 
ever  since  such  marriages  have  been  of  frequent  occur- 
rence in  China.  And  wives  do  not  customarily  object, 
because  as  the  husband  may  marry  one  of  his  concubines 
after  her  death,  she  would  rather  have  her  sister  take 
her  place  and  share  his  affection.  As  there  cannot  be 
a  legal  marriage  between  those  bearing  the  same  family 
name,  there  is  therefore  no  relationship  between  the 
relatives  of  the  husband  and  those  of  the  wife,  and  no 
impediment  in  the  Chinese  mind  to  a  marriage  between 
a  husband  and  his  deceased  wife's  sister.  That  is  the 
logic  of  their  reasoning. 

But,  there  being  not  more  than  four  hundred  and  forty 
family  names  for  a  population  of  four  hundred  millions, 
it  is  obvious  how  severe  in  application  is  the  doctrine  pro- 
hibiting marriages  between  those  bearing  the  same  name. 


FAMILY   LAW  117 

Whole  communities  have  been  known  composed  of  people 
with  the  same  surname.  When  any  member  of  such  a 
community  desired  to  marry,  he  had  to  undertake  a  long 
and  expensive  journey  or  voyage.  The  Chinese,  however, 
have  not  been  slow  in  finding  expedients  to  avoid  much  of 
the  hardship.  In  the  case  where  the  name  has  two  distinct 
origins,  persons  of  the  same  surname  may  intermarry, 
provided  their  line  of  ancestry  can  be  traced  from  the 
separate  stock.  On  the  other  hand,  families  of  the  same 
ancestry  have  branched  off  under  a  different  name  and  do 
not  intermarry.  The  broadest  distinction  in  favour  of  the 
expedient  seems  to  have  been  made  during  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Yung-lo,  when  those  families  which  took  part 
in  the  grain  transport  were  called  military  families  and 
the  others,  families  of  the  people.  Since  that  reign  this 
distinction  has  been  maintained  and  intermarriages  per- 
mitted. 

Impediments  to  marriage  on  account  of  affinity  are  very 
succinctly  stated  by  MoUendorff.  "Marriage  is  not  al- 
lowed with  sisters  of  the  wives  of  ascendants  or  descend- 
ants, with  the  father's  or  mother's  sister-in-law,  or  with 
the  sister  of  the  son-in-law.  It  is  forbidden  with  the 
step-daughter  and  with  female  relations  within  the  fourth 
degree  of  relationship,  with  a  widow  of  a  relative  of  the 
fourth  degree,  or  with  the  sister  of  the  widowed  daughter- 
in-law.  Marriages  with  widows  of  relatives  of  a  nearer 
degree  are  considered  incestuous.  Decapitation  is  the 
punishment  for  marriage  with  the  father's  or  grand- 
father's former  wives,  or  with  sisters  of  the  father." 
According  to  a  Jewish  custom,  marriage  between  a  widow 
and  her  deceased  husband's  brother  was  not  interdicted, 
but  only  allowed  when  the  widow  was  childless.  In 
ancient  times  such  was  the  custom  among  other  nations 
and  it  is  still  the  custom  in  the  Caucasus  ;  but  Jamieson 


118  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

and  other  high  authorities  have  expressed  the  opinion  that 
it  is  not  practised  in  any  of  the  provinces  of  China  because 
of  the  severe  penalty  for  it,  which  is,  that  "whoever 
marries  his  brother's  widow  shall  be  strangled." 

In  China  public  opinion  is  very  much  against  a  widow's 
marrying  at  all,  and  one  who  refuses  all  offers  of  marriage 
is  held  in  the  highest  consideration.  The  greatest  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  the  period  of  mourning  and  time  to 
remain  widowed,  and  any  departure  from  either  is  regarded 
as  most  reprehensible.  During  the  period  of  mourning 
every  propriety  would  be  violated  should  any  one  marry 
whose  duty  it  was  to  conform  to  any  of  the  rules  for 
mourning,  and  besides  there  is  a  prohibition  against  marry- 
ing during  such  a  period. 

Another  prohibition  is  that  an  official  is  not  allowed  to 
marry  a  woman  under  his  jurisdiction,  or  out  of  a  family 
that  has  an  interest  in  the  performance  of  his  official  duty. 
And  in  China  no  official  can  hold  office  in  his  native  prov- 
ince, nor  can  he  sit  as  judge  in  a  case  if  one  of  the  parties 
be  related  to  him.  But  if  the  official  has  been  adopted  into 
a  family  of  another  province,  he  can  acquire  a  right  of 
domicile  in  the  province  of  his  adoption  and  may  then  hold 
office  in  the  province  originally  his  native  one. 

The  principle  of  Roman  law  which  prohibited  a  marriage 
between  persons  who  stood  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of 
guardianship  or  of  tutor  and  pupil,  was  not  necessary  in 
China,  because  only  relations  or  adopted  fathers  are  able 
to  exercise  the  right  of  guardianship  and  to  acquire 
through  it  the  power  of  a  parent,  and  between  such  there 
are  prohibitions  against  marrying. 

The  Code  enjoins  equality  of  rank  between  persons 
who  marry,  and  an  official  is  not  allowed  to  marry  an 
actress  or  a  singing  girl.  Such  marriages  are  also  for- 
bidden to  the  sons  or  grandsons  of  nobles  with  hereditary 


FAMILY   LAW  119 

rank.  The  punisliment  is  degradation  in  rank  and  ulti- 
mately the  loss  of  it. 

In  China  difference  of  religion  has  no  influence  upon 
marriage.  A  prohibition  is  aimed  at  those  Buddhist  and 
Taoist  priests  and  nuns  who  do  not  shave  their  heads  but 
bind  the  hair  in  a  net  or  head-band ;  these  are  not  allowed 
to  marry.  But  when  such  shave  their  heads  and  plait 
their  hair  like  other  Chinese,  they  may  marry.  If  a  priest 
should  obtain  a  woman  under  pretence  that  she  is  to 
marry  another  and  then  marries  her  himself,  he  is  severely 
punished. 

A  male  slave  cannot  marry  a  free  woman,  nor  can  a  run- 
away female  slave  marry.  In  the  latter  case  the  reason 
is  that  the  female  slave  can  only  lawfully  be  given  away 
by  her  master. 

The  impediments  which  have  been  pointed  out  render 
a  marriage  already  concluded  null  and  void,  but  igno- 
rance of  them  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  exempts  the 
parties  from  punishment. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  sense  of  the  marriage  contract 
the  parties  who  signed  it  are  punished  if  the  marriage  laws 
have  been  transgressed,  the  go-between  only  if  he  was 
aware  of  the  illegality;  but  husband  and  wife  are  not 
punished  unless  they  were  sui  juris.  If  the  father,  grand- 
father, or  uncle  signed  the  contract,  they  alone  are  pun- 
ished ;  if  it  was  another  relation,  he  is  punished  as 
principal,  and  husband  and  wife  as  accomplices.  The 
purchase  money  is  in  each  case  forfeited,  except  when 
the  parties  were  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the  impedi- 
ment." (Mollendorff.)  The  Chinese  do  not  admit  that 
impediments  to'marriage  can  be  removed  by  a  dispensa- 
tion, and  with  the  Jews  dispensation  was  also  inadmissible 
as  a  means  for  removing  such  impediments. 

Although  a  wife  shares  the  rank  and  honour  of  her  hus- 


120  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

band,  she  owes  him  implicit  obedience  and  does  not  even 
have  the  privilege  of  leaving  the  house  without  his  con- 
sent. The  law  which  governs  the  relations  of  husband  and 
wife  to  each  other  assigns  to  the  wife  a  very  servile  posi- 
tion in  the  household.  Marriage  gives  her  but  few  rights, 
and  she  is  practically  in  the  power  of  her  husband.  After 
the  signing  of  the  contract  of  marriage  and  the  naming  of 
the  day  she  goes  to  the  house  of  her  husband  and  from  that 
moment  she  ceases  to  have  a  wish  which  he  is  compelled 
to  respect.  She  has  no  right  to  demand  of  him  conjugal 
fidelity,  but  if  she  sins  against  it  she  commits  a  heinous 
crime.  And  if  she  disobeys  her  husband,  he  may  sell  her 
to  another  as  a  concubine.  As  in  Roman  law,  the  wife 
in  China  after  the  death  of  her  husband  belongs  to  his 
family.  If  she  leaves  it  either  to  return  to  her  own  or  to 
marry  again,  she  not  only  leaves  behind  her  husband's 
estate,  but  all  that  she  brought  with  her.  But  there  is,  at 
least,  one  provision  favourable  to  the  wife;  if  the  hus- 
band should  be  the  oldest  member  of  his  stock  then  in 
power,  after  his  death  the  power  would  be  transferred  to 
the  wife,  and  she  would  manage  the  family  estate. 

Unless  it  is  otherwise  stipulated  in  the  contract  of 
marriage,  all  the  property  of  the  wife,  however  inherited 
or  acquired,  belongs  to  the  husband  ;  but  the  husband 
is  not  responsible  for  her  debts,  unless  she  was  sui  juris 
before  marriage  or  had  no  family,  when  he  would  be 
responsible.  It  is  not  the  custom,  however,  to  refuse  to  a 
divorced  wife  or  a  widow  permission  to  take  her  jewellery 
and  silks  away  with  her. 

If  a  husband  wishes  to  change  his  place  of  residence,  the 
wife  must  follow,  if  he  requires  her  to  do  so.  The  better 
class  of  Chinese  usually  leave  their  legal  wives  at  home 
when  they  wish  to  travel,  and  take  with  them  their 
concubines. 


FAMILY   LAW  121 

The  natural  cause  of  the  dissolution  of  a  marriage  is 
the  death  of  either  the  husband  or  the  wife,  but  there  are 
other  causes  which  are  prescribed  by  law.  In  addition  to 
the  impediments  to  marriage,  which  are  causes  for  divorce, 
the  husband,  if  he  catches  his  wife  in  the  act  of  adultery, 
may  kill  both  adulterers;  but  if  the  wife  is  not  killed,  she 
may  be  sold  into  concubinage,  though  the  money  is  for- 
feited. If  the  adulterer  should  kill  the  husband,  the  wife 
is  strangled. 

A  divorce  may  take  place:  — 

1.  If  both  husband  and  wife  are  willing  to  dissolve 
marriage,  e.g.  owing  to  incompatibility  of  temper. 

2.  If  the  wife  leaves  the  home  against  the  will  of  the 
husband,  should  she  marry  whilst  absent,  she  is  strangled. 

3.  If  the  wife  beats  the  husband,  which  is  probably 
very  rare  in  China. 

4.  If  the  marriage  contract  contained  false  statements. 

5.  If  the  wife  has  one  of  the  seven  faults :  barrenness, 
sensuality,  want  of  filial  piety  toward  the  husband's 
parents,  loquacity,  thievishness,  jealousy  and  distrust,  or 
an  incurable  disease. 

But  none  of  the  seven  causes  mentioned  in  number  five 
above  will  justify  a  divorce  by  the  husband  if  any  of  the 
three  following  reasons  against  a  divorce  should  exist : 
(1)  if  the  wife  has  mourned  three  years  for  her  husband's 
parents  ;  (2)  if  his  family  has  become  rich  after  having 
been  poor  previous  to,  and  at  the  time  of,  the  marriage ; 
and  (3)  if  the  wife  has  no  parents  living  to  receive  her 
back  again. 

When  the  marriage  is  dissolved,  the  parties  are  as  free 
as  if  they  had  never  been  married,  and  the  wife  returns 
to  her  family,  if  they  will  receive  her ;  but  the  children 
remain  with  the  father,  and  the  purchase  money,  if  the 
husband  was  not  the  cause  of  the  divorce,  is  given  back 


122  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

to  him.  Should  the  family  of  the  wife  refuse  to  receive 
her,  she  becomes  sui  Juris. 

There  can  be  no  relationship  through  the  wife  after  the 
divorce.  The  laws  of  nearly  every  nation  provide  for  the 
legality  of  children  born  within  a  certain  period  after 
the  dissolution  of  marriage;  but  as  to  the  divorce  of  a 
pregnant  wife  in  China,  the  law  is  defective  in  this  respect, 
though  after  the  wife  leaves  the  house  of  her  husband  not 
to  return  again,  the  children  born  afterward  cannot  be 
claimed  by  him. 

The  husband  generally  gives  the  divorced  wife,  when 
she  leaves  his  house,  a  bill  of  divorce.  The  action  for 
divorce  is  not  as  open  to  the  wife  as  to  the  husband  —  she 
can  only  bring  the  action  if  she  thinks  there  will  be  no 
objection  on  the  part  of  the  husband.  But  if  she  has  been 
cruelly  beaten  by  her  husband,  the  law  taking  no  notice  of 
moderate  punishment,  or  if  she  has  been  deceived  by  false 
statements  in  the  marriage  contract,  or  if  the  husband 
has  become  a  leper,  or  has  not  been  heard  from  in  three 
years,  the  action  for  divorce  may  be  begun  by  the  wife. 

Another  custom  is,  that  when  a  widow  marries  a 
widower  she  belongs  spiritually  to  her  first  husband  and 
is  buried  with  him  at  her  death.  The  husband  can 
marry  immediately  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  but,  as  else- 
where stated,  custom  is  very  much  opposed  to  a  widow's 
marrying  again,  and,  in  especial,  until  she  has  mourned 
three  years  for  her  dead  husband. 

There  is  a  custom,  said  to  be  exclusively  confined  to 
the  prefectural  city  of  T'ing  Chao,  in  the  province  of 
Fukien,  which  allows  one  woman  to  fill  the  office  of  wife 
for  several  men.  The  cases  which  have  come  under 
the  observation  of  writers  on  the  subject  have  been 
mostly  those  where  several  brothers,  by  reason  of  their 
poverty,  have   one  woman  with  whom   they  live   alter- 


FAMILY   LAW  123 

nately.  This  is  called  polyandry,  and  wherever  practised, 
child  murder  is  also  practised. 

The  reason  for  the  custom  of  polyandry  is  not  the 
opposite  of  the  reason  for  concubinage.  It  would  appear 
that  sensuality  exercised  quite  an  influence  in  the  former, 
but  it  does  not  always  lead  to  the  latter  custom. 
The  doctrine  of  filial  piety  is  in  a  great  measure  re- 
sponsible for  concubinage  in  China.  There  must  be  some 
one  to  worship  at  the  ancestral  graves ;  and  if  the  wife 
should  prove  barren,  then  the  husband  may  take  unto  him 
a  concubine,  and  the  children  begotten  of  her  shall  be  the 
children  of  his  legal  wife  and  perform  the  duties 
demanded  at  the  ancestral  altar.  Abraham  took  Hagar 
as  a  concubine ;  but  when  his  wife  bore  a  son,  he  divorced 
Hagar.  But  Abraham  had  other  concubines  besides 
Hagar.  Jacob  had  two  wives,  Leah  and  Rachel,  and, 
besides,  two  concubines,  Bilhah  and  Zilpah,  whose  sons 
were  all  legitimate.  Esau  had  many  wives,  and  King 
Solomon  excelled  all  in  the  number  and  splendour  of  his 
family  household. 

But  whether  the  child  be  born  of  the  legal  wife,  or  of  a 
concubine,  or  be  adopted,  the  power  of  both  parents  is 
absolute.  The  father  first  and,  after  his  death,  then  the 
mother,  may  do  with  the  child  as  he  or  she  likes.  He  may 
not  only  chastise,  but  even  sell,  expose,  or  kill  it ;  and  if 
the  child  is  a  girl  and  the  parents  are  poor,  it  is  often 
enough  the  custom  to  kill  it.  Such  is  the  theory  of 
parental  power  ;  but  when  carried  to  the  extreme  there 
is  a  public  sentiment  in  China  which  condemns  it,  and 
there  are  official  proclamations  against  infanticide. 

The  power  of  the  father  over  his  son  does  not  cease  as 
long  as  the  father  lives,  unless  the  son  enters  the  govern- 
ment service,  and  even  then,  with  the  permission  of  the 
Emperor,  the  power  may  still  be  exercised.     If  the  child  is 


124  CHINA  IN  LAW   AKD   COMMERCE 

a  daughter,  the  power  ceases  to  exist  when  she  marries, 
for  then  she  passes  into  the  power  of  her  husband. 
Should  the  marriage  be  dissolved,  she  returns  to  the 
power  of  her  father,  or  as  a  widow  she  remains  with 
her  husband's  family. 

It  is  the  first  duty  of  a  child  to  show  reverence  and 
obedience  to  the  parents  as  long  as  they  live,  and  to  nurse 
and  support  them.  If  the  father,  mother,  or  grandparents 
are  over  eighty  years  old,  or  feeble  and  ill,  the  son  shall 
remain  at  home,  unless  another  son  over  sixteen  years  old 
lives  with  them.  Filial  piety  or  duty  is  called  the  fun- 
damental virtue,  and  any  neglect  of  it  on  the  part  of  the 
children  is  punished  by  officials  upon  complaint. 

A  most  important  institution  under  this  division  of 
Chinese  law  is  that  of  adoption.  This  institution  has  been 
referred  to,  but  a  more  extended  reference  is  demanded. 
It  is  estimated  that  in  China  five  per  cent  of  all  the 
families  possess  adopted  children,  and  the  reason  given  by 
the  ancient  Greeks  is  the  same  as  the  reason  given  by  the 
Chinese  in  favour  of  adoption.  "The  dying  out  of  a  family 
was  to  be  prevented,  as  by  the  desolation  of  the  house  the 
dead  lost  their  religious  honours,  the  gods  of  the  family 
their  sacrifices,  the  hearth  its  flame,  and  the  forefathers 
their  name  among  the  living. "  Nearly  all  adoptions,  says 
Mollendorff,  take  place  in  childless  families,  and  among 
these  the  greater  part  are  adoptions  of  sons.  According 
to  the  same  authority,  a  man  may  adopt  a  person  as  son  or 
daughter,  or,  if  he  formerly  had  sons,  as  grandchild,  but 
not  as  brother,  wife,  or  concubine. 

"  Adoption,  like  marriage  and  the  acquisition  of  slaves, 
rests  in  China  upon  purchase,  concerning  which  a  contract 
is  made  in  which  only  the  words  '  wife,'  '  son,'  '  daughter,' 
or  '  slave '  are  differently  inserted.  The  most  frequent 
case  is  the  adoption   of   a  nephew  by  a  childless  uncle. 


FAMILY   LAW  125 

This  nephew  is  generally  a  younger  son,  who  then  leaves  his 
father's  family  and  becomes  the  grandson  of  the  adopted 
father.  If  there  is  only  one  nephew  whose  duty  it  is  to 
continue  the  line  of  his  father,  he  has  to  marry  another  wife 
whose  male  issue  is  considered  that  of  the  uncle.  The 
nephew  has  thus  to  perform  the  double  sacrifice  and  is  called 
'  one  son  with  two  ancestral  halls.'  He  mourns  three  years' 
term  for  his  adoptive  father  and  only  one  year  for  his  par- 
ents. If  he  leaves  only  one  son,  the  latter  has,  like  his 
father,  to  marry  two  wives,  the  issue  of  one  is  that  of  his 
grandfather,  that  of  the  other  continues  his  uncle's  family. 
When  two  sons  are  obtained,  the  ancestral  hall  is  completed. 
This,  then,  constitutes  the  only  case  where  a  Chinese  may 
have  two  wives  at  the  same  time."    (MoUendorff.) 

There  are  no  special  requirements  prescribed  for  one 
who  adopts  another,  though  it  is  usual  for  the  adopter  to 
be  older  than  the  person  adopted,  and  foundlings  under 
three  years  old  may  be  adopted  without  ceremony.  The 
main  idea,  however,  is  that  only  children  out  of  families 
who  bear  the  same  family  name  may  be  adopted,  as  other- 
wise, according  to  the  Chinese,  the  difference  between  fami- 
lies would  soon  cease  to  exist.  After  the  death  of  the 
husband  the  widow  has  the  power  of  adoption  possessed  by 
her  husband,  but  she  has  to  ask  the  consent  of  the  nearest 
male  relation  of  her  late  husband.  She  has  the  right  to 
prevent  the  legitimate  or  adopted  sons  of  her  former  hus- 
band from  giving  themselves  in  arrogation  against  her 
wish.  The  adoption  of  one's  younger  brother  or  one's 
uncle,  even  if  the  latter  is  younger  than  the  nephew,  is 
not  allowed;  for  the  same  reason  the  uncle  may  not  adopt 
a  nephew  who  is  older  or  of  the  same  age  as  himself. 

When  the  father  is  alive,  but  insane  and  poor,  so  that 
by  the  arrogation  the  son  acquires  the  means  of  supporting 
him,  neither  his  consent  nor  that  of  the  nearest  relative 


126  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

need  be  asked.  The  same  is  true  if  the  father  is  far  away, 
though  on  his  return  he  may  claim  back  his  son. 

There  are,  however,  some  requirements  which  must  be 
respected  by  any  one  who  wants  to  give  himself  in 
arrogation.  The  consent  of  the  nearest  relations  of  his 
former  pater  familias  must  be  asked ;  and  if  there  be 
elder  brothers,  their  consent  also  is  to  be  requested. 

"A  man  having  sons  of  his  own  may  not  adopt  a 
stranger  as  their  elder  brother,  but  he  may  adopt  grand- 
children as  sons  of  his  legitimate  or  adopted  sons.  After 
his  death  the  latter  have  the  right  to  dissolve  such  adop- 
tions. Brothers  may,  after  the  death  of  their  parents, 
give  their  elder  or  younger  sisters  into  adoption,  but  not 
without  their  consent.  Even  after  death  a  filius  post- 
humus  may  be  adopted  for  a  man  by  his  relations  or 
friends;  in  case  he  died  without  any  male  descendants, 
preference  is  given,  in  such  cases,  to  a  nephew  of  the 
deceased.  By  special  grace  the  Emperor  may  do  this 
for  princes  of  the  blood  or  high  dignitaries,  but  in  all 
cases  with  the  consent  of  the  male  relatives  of  the 
deceased."     (Mollendorff.) 

Arrogation  and  adoption  are  in  effect  the  same.  It  would 
seem  unnatural,  but  it  is  true  that  an  adopted  son  has  a 
better  position  in  the  family  than  the  natural  one,  for  the 
former  cannot  be  sold  without  the  consent  of  his  natural 
parents.  The  only  exception  to  this  rule  is  when  a 
second  adoption  would  be  beneficial.  In  the  matter  of 
inheritance,  the  natural  and  adopted  sons  take  precedence 
of  the  daughters.  Should  a  son  be  born  to  the  adopter 
after  the  adoption,  he  may  cancel  the  adoption,  provided 
the  parents  of  the  one  adopted  are  willing  to  receive  him 
back;  but  if  no  member  of  his  family  lives  to  whom  he  can 
return,  he  must  be  kept.  The  only  exception  to  this  rule 
applies  to  officials  who  may  be  left  without  a  family.     It 


FAMILY  LAW  127 

may  happen  that  at  the  death  of  the  parents  there  are 
young  children  (under  seven  years)  and  no  one  who  has 
the  right  to  the  power  of  a  parent;  in  such  a  case  the 
power  devolves  upon  one  of  the  male  relations  of  the  sur- 
name if  no  testamentary  tutelage  has  been  ordered.  If 
there  should  be  no  male  relation  of  the  surname,  then  a 
male  relation  of  a  different  surname  is  chosen.  But  if  no 
relation  can  be  found  who  is  willing  to  take  the  responsi- 
bility, a  guardian  has  to  be  appointed.  However,  in  China 
it  would  appear  almost  impossible  to  be  without  any  such 
relation. 

A  guardian  has  the  power  of  parents  and  retains  it, 
with  certain  exceptions,  as  long  as  he  lives.  If  the  child 
has  property,  that  remains  his ;  but  the  guardian  has  the 
full  usufruct  of  it. 

"  Excepting  where  the  father  gives  himself  in  arroga- 
tion,  so  that  his  children  come  under  the  power  of  his 
arrogator,  the  father's  power  may  cease  with  his  will. 

"  1.  By  sale  into  adoption,  by  which  the  son  acquires 
agnate  rights  in  the  family  of  the  adopted  father. 

"2.  By  sale  of  a  daughter  into  marriage,  she  becom- 
ing an  agnate  in  her  husband's  family  and  entering  his 
manus. 

"  3.  By  permission  to  the  children  to  enter  a  religious 
order.  They  then  lose  their  family  name  and  leave  the 
family  connection  altogether. 

"  4.  By  exposing  the  children  in  tender  age.  The  finder 
may  lawfully  adopt  them  if  under  three  years  of  age.  If 
older,  it  is  not  permitted  to  expose  them,  and  only  the 
ways  mentioned  under  Nos.  1  and  2  are  left  to  the  father 
to  rid  himself  of  his  child."    (Mollendorff.) 

The  penal  idea  of  the  Code  so  governs  in  every  pro- 
vision that  to  fail  in  the  observance  of  the  smallest 
detail  is  a  punishable  offence.     If  one  should  appoint  his 


128  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

heir  and  representative  unlawfully,  he  is  punished  with 
eighty  blows.  If  the  wife  is  over  fifty  years  of  age  and  has 
no  son,  the  husband  is  allowed  to  appoint  the  eldest  son  by  a 
concubine  to  the  inheritance ;  but  if  any  other  than  the  eld- 
est son  is  appointed,  it  is  a  violation  of  the  law.  If  a  person 
not  having  a  son  himself  educates  and  adopts  the  son  of  a 
kinsman  having  other  sons,  but  afterward  dismisses  such 
adopted  son,  he  shall  be  punished  with  one  hundred  blows, 
and  the  son  so  dismissed  shall  be  sent  back  and  supported 
by  him.  To  ask  for  and  to  receive  into  his  house  as  his 
adopted  son  one  of  a  different  family  name  is  to  be  guilty 
of  confounding  family  distinctions,  and  is  punishable  with 
sixty  blows,  the  son  so  adopted  being  returned  to  his 
family.  And  the  principle  and  punishment  applies  to  one 
who  gives  away  his  spn  to  be  adopted  into  a  family  of  a 
different  name,  the  son  in  the  latter  case  also  returning  to 
his  family.  On  failure  of  children,  the  relative  appointed 
to  the  succession  shall  be  the  eldest  in  the  succession, 
otherwise  it  is  a  violation  of  the  law  followed  by  punish- 
ment. Whoever  brings  up  in  his  family  as  a  slave  the 
male  or  female  child  of  a  freeman  shall  be  punished  with 
one  hundred  blows,  and  the  child  shall  regain  its  freedom. 
There  is  a  section  in  the  Code  with  humane  provisions 
for  the  protection  of  stray  children.  These  little  helpless 
beings  are  guarded  —  at  least  in  theory  —  against  the  un- 
feeling part  of  society.  They  are  to  be  taken  when  found 
to  a  magistrate,  whose  duty  it  is  to  see  that  they  are  prop- 
erly cared  for.  And  any  one  who  receives,  detains,  or 
sells  such  a  child  for  marriage,  or  adoption,  or  as  a  slave, 
or  fails  to  present  it  to  a  magistrate  within  a  reasonable 
time  after  coming  into  his  possession,  shall  be  punished 
with  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  blows,  and  for  the  more 
serious  of  the  above  offences  shall  be  banished  for  two 
years  and  a  half.     Whatever  disposition  has  been  made  of 


FAMILY   LAW  129 

the  child  contrary  to  law  is  annulled,  and  it  regains  its 
freedom.  If  an  unmarried  man  gets  a  child  by  a  girl,  he 
must  marry  her.  If  he  has  a  wife,  he  must  then  take  her 
as  a  concubine ;  but  in  any  event  the  child  is  legitimate. 
Illegitimate  children  and  the  children  of  prostitutes  bear 
the  family  name  of  the  mother  and  are  under  her  control 
and  power. 

As  the  Roman  doctrine  of  agnatic  and  cognatic  relation- 
ship is  recognized  by  Chinese  law,  the  explanation  given 
of  it  in  Maine's  "  Ancient  Law"  will  not  be  out  of  place 
in  this  chapter. 

"  Cognatic  relationship  is  simply  the  conception  of  kin- 
ship familiar  to  modern  ideas  ;  it  is  the  relationship  aris- 
ing through  common  descent  from  the  same  pair  of  married 
persons,  whether  the  descent  be  traced  through  males  or 
females.  Agnatic  relationship  is  something  very  different; 
it  excludes  a  number  of  persons  whom  we  in  our  day 
should  certainly  consider  of  kin  to  ourselves,  and  it  in- 
cludes many  more  whom  we  should  never  reckon  among 
our  kindred.  It  is,  in  truth,  the  connection  existing  be- 
tween the  members  of  the  family,  conceived  as  it  was  in 
the  most  ancient  times.  The  limits  of  this  connection  are 
far  from  conterminous  with  those  of  modern  relationship. 

"Cognates,  then,  are  all  those  persons  who  can  trace 
their  blood  to  a  single  ancestor  and  ancestress ;  or,  if  we 
take  the  strict  technical  meaning  of  the  word  in  Roman 
law,  they  are  all  who  trace  their  blood  to  the  legitimate 
marriage  of  a  common  pair.  '  Cognation  '  is,  therefore,  ai 
relative  term,  and  the  degree  of  connection  in  blood  which 
it  indicates  depends  on  the  particular  marriage  which  is 
selected  as  the  commencement  of  the  calculation.  If  we 
begin  with  the  marriage  of  father  and  mother,  cognation 
will  only  express  the  relationship  of  brothers  and  sisters  ; 
if  we  take  that  of  the  grandfather  and  grandmother,  then 


130  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

uncles,  aunts,  and  their  descendants  will  also  be  included 
in  the  notion  of  cognation  ;  and,  following  the  same  pro- 
cess, a  large  number  of  cognates  may  be  continually 
obtained  by  choosing  the  starting-point  higher  and  higher 
up  in  the  line  of  ascent.  All  this  is  easily  understood  by 
a  modern ;  but  who  are  the  agnates  ?  In  the  first  place, 
they  are  all  the  cognates  who  trace  their  connection  ex- 
clusively through  males.  A  table  of  cognates  is,  of 
course,  formed  by  taking  each  lineal  ancestor  in  turn  and 
including  all  his  descendants  of  both  sexes  in  the  tabular 
view.  If  then,  in  tracing  the  various  branches  of  such  a 
genealogical  table  or  tree,  we  stop  whenever  we  come  to 
the  name  of  a  female  and  pursue  that  particular  branch  or 
ramification  no  further,  all  who  remain  after  the  descend- 
ants of  women  have  been  excluded  are  agnates,  and  their 
connection  together  is  agnatic  relationship.  I  dwell  a 
little  on  the  process  which  is  practically  followed  in  sepa- 
rating them  from  the  cognates,  because  it  explains  a 
memorable  legal  maxim,  '  Mulier  est  finis  familice '  —  a 
woman  is  the  terminus  of  the  family.  A  female  name 
closes  the  branch  or  twig  of  the  genealogy  in  which  it 
occurs.  None  of  the  descendants  of  a  female  are  included 
in  the  primitive  notion  of  family  relationship. 

"  If  the  system  of  archaic  law  at  which  we  are  looking 
be  one  which  admits  adoption,  we  must  add  to  the  ag- 
nates thus  obtained  all  persons,  male  or  female,  who  have 
been  brought  into  the  family  by  the  artificial  extension  of 
its  boundaries.  But  the  descendants  of  such  persons  will 
only  be  agnates,  if  they  satisfy  the  conditions  which  have 
just  been  described. 

"  What,  then,  is  the  reason  of  this  arbitrary  inclusion 
and  exclusion  ?  Why  should  a  conception  of  kinship,  so 
elastic  as  to  include  strangers  brought  into  the  family  by 
adoption,  be  nevertheless  so  narrow  as  to  shut  out  the  de- 


FAMILY   LAW  181 

scendants  of  a  female  member  ?  To  solve  these  questions 
we  must  recur  to  the  patria  potestas.  The  foundation  of 
agnation  is  not  the  marriage  of  father  and  mother,  but  the 
authority  of  the  father.  All  persons  are  agnatically  con- 
nected together  who  are  under  the  same  paternal  power, 
or  who  have  been  under  it,  or  who  might  have  been  under 
it  if  their  lineal  ancestor  had  lived  long  enough  to  exercise 
his  empire.  In  truth,  in  the  primitive  view,  relationship 
is  exactly  limited  by  patria  potestas.  Where  the  potestas 
begins,  kinship  begins,  and  therefore  adoptive  relatives  are 
among  the  kindred.  Where  the  potestas  ends,  kinship 
ends,  so  that  a  son  emancipated  by  his  father  loses  all 
rights  of  agnation.  And  here  we  have  the  reason  why 
the  descendants  of  females  are  outside  the  limits  of  archaic 
kinship.  If  a  woman  died  unmarried,  she  could  have  no 
legitimate  descendants.  If  she  married,  her  children  fell 
under  the  patria  potestas,  not  of  her  father,  but  of  her 
husband,  and  thus  were  lost  to  her  own  family.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  organization  of  primitive  societies  would 
have  been  confounded  if  men  had  called  themselves 
relatives  of  their  mother's  relatives.  The  inference  would 
have  been  that  a  person  might  be  subject  to  two  distinct 
patrice  potestates,  but  distinct  patrice  potestates  implied 
distinct  jurisdictions,  so  that  anybody  amenable  to  two  of 
them  at  the  same  time  would  have  lived  under  two  differ- 
ent dispensations.  As  long  as  the  family  was  an  imperium 
in  imperio,  a  community  within  the  commonwealth  governed 
by  its  own  institutions  of  which  the  parent  was  the  source, 
the  limitation  of  relationship  to  the  agnates  was  a  neces- 
sary security  against  a  conflict  of  laws  in  the  domestic 
forum." 


CHAPTER  V 

TENURE  AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY 

There  is  a  note  to  section  eighty-eight  of  the  Code  in 
which  is  intimated  a  doubt  whether  the  tenure  by  which 
land  is  in  general  held  in  China  is  of  the  nature  of 
a  freehold,  and  vested  in  the  landholder  without  limitation 
or  control,  or  whether  the  Emperor  is  in  fact  the  universal 
and  exclusive  proprietor  of  the  soil. 

It  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  that  the  right  of  a  state  to 
its  public  property  or  domain  is  absolute,  and  excludes 
that  of  its  own  subjects  as  well  as  that  of  foreigners.  In 
China  this  doctrine  is  distinctly  laid  down  in  its  broadest 
sense  in  the  classics  and  in  the  Book  of  Odes,  and  is  recog- 
nized by  Chinese  as  not  to  be  questioned  in  theory.  A 
translation  from  the  Book  of  Odes  asserts  the  doctrine  that 
all  land  in  the  world  is  the  property  of  the  Emperor,  and 
that  all  dwellers  thereon  are  his  subjects.  But  China  and 
her  conservative  bureaucracy  have  been  made  to  experi- 
ence more  than  once  within  recent  years  that  there  are 
dwellers  on  land  other  than  Chinese,  and  that  their  Em- 
peror's claim,  according  to  the  Book  of  Odes,  is  very 
much  limited  in  boundary  lines.  Whatever  may  be  the 
theory  as  to  the  tenure  of  land  in  China,  it  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  the  possessors  of  land  regard  such  posses- 
sions as  the  most  secure,  if  not  the  most  important  por- 
tion, of  their  property.  And  land  is  sold  as  absolutely, 
and  the  title  deeds  are  as  valid,  in  China  as  under  any 
government. 

132 


TENURE   AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  133 

Bat  the  business  man  will  be  interested  in  another  fact 
that  certain  sections  of  the  Code  show  that  the  practi- 
cal view  of  the  question  of  tenure  is  somewhat  qualified. 
By  the  seventy -eighth  section  the  proprietor  of  land  seems 
to  be  almost  entirely  restricted  from  disposing  of  it  by 
will.  By  the  eighty-eighth  section  it  appears  that  the 
inheritors  of  land  share  it  among  them  in  certain  estab- 
lished proportions.  By  the  ninetieth  section  those  lands 
are  forfeited  which  the  proprietors  do  not  register  in  the 
public  records  of  the  government,  acknowledging  them- 
selves responsible  for  the  payment  of  taxes  upon  them. 
Allotments  of  land  even  appear  in  some  cases  liable  to 
forfeiture  merely  because  they  are  not  cultivated  when 
susceptible  of  confiscation.  By  section  ninety-five  no 
mortgage  is  lawful  unless  the  mortgagee  actually  enters 
into  a  regular  contract  duly  authenticated  and  assessed 
with  the  legal  duty  by  the  proper  magistrate,  and  has  the 
produce  thereof  conveyed  to  him,  and  makes  himself  per- 
sonally responsible  for  the  payment  of  taxes  until  the  lands 
are  redeemed  by  the  proprietor.  It  will  be  further  per- 
ceived that,  except  in  case  of  a  lawful  mortgage,  no 
person,  other  than  the  actual  proprietor  of  the  land,  is 
allowed  to  engage  for  the  payment  of  taxes  upon  it,  and 
that  therefore  such  engagement  is  in  some  degree  a  test  of 
property. 

But  while  the  Chinese  concede  that  their  Emperor  is 
the  owner  of  all  China,  and  that  they  are  the  subjects  of 
his  will  and  power,  the  land  is  nevertheless  parcelled  out 
among  them,  and  they  enjoy  possession  as  full  as  any 
people  so  long  as  the  assessments  of  the  government  are 
regularly  paid. 

There  is,  however,  a  military  tenure,  which  entered  into 
the  land  laws  of  China  after  the  conquest  by  the  Man- 
chus,  and  which  I  must  refer  to  before  explaining  the 


184  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

tenure  by  which  land  is  commonly  held.  This  mili- 
tary tenure  is  similar  to  that  which  William  the  Con- 
queror enforced  when  he  portioned  a  large  part  of  England 
among  his  followers.  The  Manchu  conquerors  portioned 
certain  parts  of  China  among  their  followers  and  made 
grants  to  them  for  the  land  thus  confiscated.  Such  lands 
are  exempt  from  taxation,  and  while  the  conditions  of 
military  tenure  do  not  so  clearly  appear  as  they  did  in  the 
terms  expressed  in  the  grants  of  the  Norman  conqueror, 
there  was  an  implied  condition  that  the  grantees  were  to 
render  military  service  whenever  it  should  be  demanded 
of  them. 

In  China  those  who  occupied  the  land  at  the  time  of 
the  grants  or  petitions  were  generally  permitted  to  remain 
and  pay  rent  to  the  new  owners,  but  in  some  cases  they 
were  driven  off  to  make  room  for  their  conquerors.  The 
change  brought  with  it  many  hardships.  Rents  were 
raised  in  proportion  to  the  extravagance  of  the  Manchu 
owner,  and  the  greed  and  the  indifference  of  a  conqueror 
were  substituted  for  the  considerate  and  liberal  policy  of 
the  former  native  rulers. 

At  one  time  the  land  that  had  been  so  portioned  among 
the  Manchus  could  not  be  alienated,  alienation  being  pro- 
hibited by  the  principle  of  military  tenure;  but  the  rule  has 
been  relaxed,  and  much  of  this  land  has  been  purchased 
from  the  conquerors  by  the  conquered,  as  the  Chinese  are 
more  thrifty  and  provident  than  the  Manchus. 

In  this  connection  another  tenure,  different  from  the 
common  tenure,  may  also  be  referred  to.  It  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  grant  to  certain  clans  or  families  on  the  con- 
dition of  their  guarding  the  frontier  of  the  Empire  and 
annually  furnishing  a  certain  number  of  boats  and  men 
for  transportation  service.  The  land  so  granted  was  not 
entirely  exempt  from    taxation,  but  the  amount  of  the 


TENURE  AND   TBANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  135 

assessment  was  much  smaller,  and  it  could  not  be  alienated 
outside  of  the  families  affected  by  the  particular  service. 
The  distinction  has  practically  disappeared,  and  now  about 
iiiue-tenths  of  all  the  landed  property  in  China  is  held  by 
common  tenure. 

A  grant  of  unoccupied  land  may  be  obtained  from  the 
government,  and  this  refers  to  land  which  was  originally 
waste,  or  which  at  one  time  was  cultivated  but  for  some 
cause  has  been  abandoned.  The  government  is  the 
owner  of  all  such  land,  as  well  as  the  final  reversioner 
of  all  that  is  arable  but  has  become  tenantless  from 
failure  of  heirs  or  by  abandonment.  If  a  Chinese  wishes 
to  become  the  owner  of  a  piece  of  waste  or  abandoned 
land,  the  simple  process  is  to  enter  into  possession  and 
bring  it  under  cultivation.  When  he  has  done  this  he 
applies  to  the  district  magistrate,  who  issues  a  proclama- 
tion setting  forth  the  facts,  and  if  the  old  owner  wishes  to 
retain  title  or  recover  what  may  have  been  lost,  he  must 
come  forward  and  resume  the  cultivation  of  the  land.  If 
this  is  not  done  on  his  part  within  a  reasonable  time,  the 
applicant  is  granted  a  title  deed  which  is  good  against  all 
the  world.  A  title  so  acquired  gives  the  owner  the 
right  to  deal  with  the  land  at  pleasure.  He  may  freely 
sell,  mortgage,  or  lease  it  without  interference  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  and  there  is  no  difference  in  the  terms 
used  to  convey  land  of  this  character  from  those  used  in 
conveyances  which  are  in  daily  use  among  business  men. 

The  idea  of  tenure  is  inseparable  from  the  idea  of 
property  in  land,  and  pervades  the  law  of  real  property  in 
almost  every  country.  In  the  eye  of  the  ancient  law  a 
greater  dignity  attached  to  a  freehold,  and  more  form  and 
solemnity  were  required  in  the  conveyance  of  land  than  in 
that  of  chattels.  This  was  because  personal  property  was 
of  a  more  transitory  nature  and  entered  much  more  into 


136  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

commerce,  and  consequently  required  the  utmost  facility 
in  its  incessant  circulation.  Even  in  the  early  periods  of 
history,  before  conveyances  of  land  were  in  writing,  such 
conveyances  were  accompanied  with  overt  acts  equiva- 
lent, in  point  of  formality  and  certainty,  to  deeds.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  universal  law  now  is  to  reduce  to 
writing  the  terms  of  almost  every  transaction  which  re- 
lates to  land,  and  that  the  tenure  of  highest  dignity  which 
one  may  hold  to  land  is  in  the  form  of  a  written  instru- 
ment called  a  deed. 

And  China  is  not  behind  other  commercial  nations  in 
safeguarding  the  transfer  of  landed  property,  nor  are  her 
laws  less  appreciative  of  the  importance  of  such  transfers. 
This  will  now  be  inquired  into. 

The  force  of  custom  again  makes  its  appearance  when 
one  examines  the  tenure  by  which  property  is  held  and 
the  form  used  for  its  transfer.  There  are  hardly  any  two 
provinces  in  China  where  the  form  for  a  deed  is  the  same. 
This  is  not  only  true  with  reference  to  the  provinces,  but 
there  are  often  localities  in  the  same  province  where  the 
form  is  different.  It  would  seem  that  such  a  difference 
would  give  rise  to  trouble,  but  in  looking  closely  into 
deeds  of  different  forms  one  must  see  that  the  technical 
expressions  for  the  conditions  of  the  agreement  are  sub- 
stantially the  same  everywhere  in  the  Empire.  There- 
fore it  is  only  necessary  to  procure  the  usual  form  of  a 
deed  used  in  any  important  local  centre  of  business,  and 
modify  or  change  it  according  to  the  special  usages  and 
customs  of  other  localities,  which  there  should  be  no  dif- 
ficulty in  ascertaining. 

The  first  essential  consideration  is  that  the  subject- 
matter  of  the  agreement  should  be  clearly  stated.  There 
should  be  no  ambiguity  in  setting  forth  the  conditions. 
The  legal  and  technical  terms  which  have  been  brought 


TENURE   AND  TRANSFER  OF  PROPERTY  137 

into  use  by  the  custom  of  the  locality  where  the  property 
is  situated  must  be  employed.  It  is  advisable  never  to 
abbreviate  a  character  used  in  a  deed,  but  to  write  it  in 
full,  and  when  a  character  has  been  omitted  it  may  be 
interpolated,  but  the  fact  must  be  noted  at  the  foot  of  the 
deed,  and  the  character  so  interpolated  should  be  written 
in  full  in  the  note. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  boundaries  be 
accurately  defined  and  the  property  as  accurately  de- 
scribed. When  there  is  a  right  of  way  over  the  property 
of  another,  it  is  indicated  by  the  words  "  going  out  and 
coming  in "  by  a  certain  road,  to  be  also  described  as 
well  as  defined  by  boundaries.  It  is  the  custom  for  the 
owner  of  the  land  over  which  the  right  of  way  exists 
to  sign  the  deed  as  a  witness.  This  is  required  as  a 
precaution  against  his  extending  his  holding  in  the 
future  by  enclosing  the  common  way.  Should  he  refuse 
to  sign,  the  vendor  ought  to  assert  the  right  of  way  accord- 
ing to  usage  and  testimony  in  confirmation,  and  compel 
respect  for  the  custom  by  the  proper  legal  proceedings. 
And  if  a  right  of  way  for  an  irrigating  channel  or  for 
drainage  over  another's  land  be  required,  it  should  be 
expressed  in  the  deed. 

If  one  of  the  boundary  lines  of  the  piece  of  land  de- 
scribed in  the  deed  should  be  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
that  fact  is  peculiarly  indicated  by  the  placing  of  the 
boundary  stone,  and  common  usage  has  made  this  imper- 
ative. The  stone  is  placed  at  the  side  of  the  street,  and 
the  characters  inscribed  on  it  mean  that  the  actual  boun- 
dary is  not  at  the  site  of  the  stone,  but  outside,  that  is,  in 
the  middle  of  the  way.  And  the  side  of  the  stone  over 
which  the  characters  have  been  inscribed  ought  to  look  on 
the  adjoining  property. 

Sometimes  it  is  inconvenient  to  erect  a  stone  as  the 


138  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

boundary  mark;  when  such  is  the  case,  a  boundary  line 
may  be  substituted,  by  which  is  meant  the  "  driving  of  a 
longish  post  into  the  ground  and  then  drawing  it  out  and 
filling  the  hole  with  lime."  In  all  cases  when  a  boundary 
line  is  used,  the  fact  should  be  noted  in  the  deed  and  in 
the  property  roll ;  the  latter  will  be  explained  later  on. 
Boundary  marks  should  always  be  set  in  the  presence 
of  public  officials,  whose  duty  is  to  give  due  notice  to  the 
neighbouring  proprietors. 

It  is  a  frequent  custom  with  families  that  possess  large 
properties  to  prepare  two  rolls  :  one  contains  copies  of 
all  deeds  with  explanatory  notes,  and  is  deposited  in 
some  safe  place ;  the  other  contains  abstracts  only  of  the 
deeds,  and  is  deposited  with  authentic  documents  in  the 
archives  of  the  family. 

In  all  Chinese  deeds  certain  words  are  used  for  seller  and 
buyer,  and  these  mean  about  the  same  as  in  English  deeds. 
When  a  third  party  is  selected  to  draft  the  deed,  he  signs 
his  name  at  the  bottom  of  the  instrument  with  a  char- 
acter which  shows  that  he  was  the  drafter  of  it.  By 
custom  the  drafter  is  selected  by  the  seller,  but  the  buyer 
has  the  right  to  demand  that  he  shall  be  an  upright  and 
experienced  man.  If  the  seller  should  draft  the  deed 
himself,  then  he  must  also  sign  at  its  foot  with  a  character 
which  signifies  that  the  writing  is  his  own.  The  rule  is 
that  there  shall  appear  on  every  deed  the  character 
proper  to  indicate  without  mistake  the  name  of  the  person 
who  wrote  it. 

But,  as  elsewhere  stated,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  con- 
ceive of  a  transaction  between  two  Chinese  without  the 
intervention  of  a  middleman  or  go-between.  This  is  a 
character  inseparable  from  Chinese  business  methods. 
There  may  be  more  than  one  middleman,  and  those  who  are 
employed  to  negotiate  directly  for  the  conclusion  of  the 


TENURE  AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  139 

contract  between  the  seller  and  buyer  are  styled  the  "  origi- 
nal middlemen  "  ;  but  when,  as  is  often  done,  others  are 
invited  to  sign  as  witnesses,  these  last  are  styled  the 
"  invited  middlemen."  The  principal  witness,  however,  is 
a  near  relative  of  the  seller's  family,  his  father,  uncle,  or 
nephew,  and  is  styled  "one  who  saw  the  sale." 

The  names  of  the  seller  and  middlemen  are  written  in 
full  in  the  deed,  and  underneath  each  subscribes  his  own 
private  mark.  The  buyer  does  not  sign,  and  the  middle- 
men who  sign  are  not  understood  as  guaranteeing  the 
title,  but  rather  as  guaranteeing  that  the  seller  is  what  he 
represents  himself  to  be  and  that  the  transaction  is  in  good 
faith.  The  employment  of  middlemen  is  not  thought  to 
be  strictly  necessary  to  the  validity  of  a  sale,  but  it  is 
seldom  that  sound  business  prudence  is  satisfied  with  less 
than  two  as  witnesses  to  the  transaction,  and  there  are 
often  as  many  as  eight  or  ten. 

There  is  this  peculiar  clause  in  a  Chinese  deed  which 
is  made  in  deference  to,  if  not  demanded  by,  the  law  govern- 
ing the  family  ownership  of  property.  It  is  "  that  the 
seller,  being  in  want  of  money,  and  having  first  offered 
the  land  to  his  kinsmen,  who  decline  to  buy  it,  has 
arranged  through  the  middlemen  to  sell  it  to  so-and-so 
and  for  such  a  price." 

After  the  insertion  of  such  a  clause  and  after  con- 
formity to  the  essential  requirements  named  above,  the 
transaction  is  still  incomplete  without  the  village  ti-pao, 
or  head-man,  whose  importance  has  been  referred  to  in 
the  chapter  on  Government. 

The  seal  of  the  ti-pao  must  be  attached  to  the  deed 
before  it  can  be  registered  in  the  office  of  the  district 
magistrate.  If  the  deed  is  not  registered,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  buyer  to  have  it  registered,  the  land  is  by  law 
subject  to  confiscation.     The  fee  for  registration^  includ- 


140  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ing  the  proper  and  improper  charges,  is  about  six  per  cent 
of  the  amount  of  the  purchase  money,  but  tlie  amount  of 
the  purchase  money  is  not  always  correctly  stated  in  the 
deed.  An  example  is  given  by  George  Jamieson  of  the  way 
the  heavy  tax  for  registration  is  avoided.  The  price  is 
understated  thus:  "If  taels  3000  be  the  real  price, 
the  sale  will  purport  to  be  made  in  consideration  of  taels 
1500,  or  the  seller  will  execute  two  deeds,  in  one  of 
which  he  purports  to  convey  the  ground  for,  say,  taels 
1400,  and  in  the  other  for  taels  1600,  both  in  identical 
terms.  Only  one  of  these  goes  to  the  magistrate  to  be 
stamped,  the  other  is  retained  by  the  purchaser  as  a 
receipt  for  his  money." 

After  the  deed  has  been  registered  by  the  magistrate  it 
is  returned  to  the  owner  with  an  official  endorsement  of 
the  transaction.  In  this  endorsement  are  set  out  the  names 
of  the  seller  and  buyer,  the  district  in  which  the  land  is 
situated,  the  amount  paid  as  transfer  fee,  and  the  amount 
of  the  annual  tax  for  which  the  new  proprietor  is  liable. 
On  the  deed  so  returned  the  magistrate's  seal  should  appear 
in  several  places,  under  the  form  of  an  impression  in  red, 
and  from  such  a  red  impression  the  deed  is  popularly 
known  as  a  "  red  deed,"  which  is  the  highest  form  of  title 
obtainable.  The  ingenuity,  however,  which  names  a  false 
price  to  avoid  the  payment  of  the  customary  charges  has 
been  exercised  in  the  direction  of  substituting  unstamped 
deeds,  but  these  last  are  known  as  "  white  deeds "  and 
are  always  regarded  with  great  suspicion. 

At  the  open  ports  of  China  foreigners  have  the  right, 
under  the  treaties,  to  purchase  land  from  Chinese,  but  the 
latter,  instead  of  executing  a  deed  in  the  usual  form, 
execute  to  the  foreign  purchaser  a  lease  in  perpetuity, 
which  is  registered  through  the  consulate  of  the  pur- 
chaser, and  only  a  nominal  fee  is  charged  by  the  Chinese 
authorities. 


TENURE  AND  TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  141 

There  are  many  wealthy  Chinese  who  prefer  to  place 
their  property  under  the  protection  of  a  foreign  flag, 
and  much  of  the  landed  property  within  the  limits  of  the 
treaty  ports  is  really  owned  by  Chinese,  though  registered 
in  the  name  of  foreigners.  A  lease  in  perpetuity  is 
executed  to  a  foreigner,  who  has  it  registered  through  his 
consulate,  and  when  this  is  done  the  foreigner  gives  to  the 
real  owner  a  private  paper,  in  which  appear  the  condi- 
tions of  the  lease  in  perpetuity. 

A  recent  decision  of  the  British  Supreme  Court  at 
Shanghai  has  recognized  the  system  of  tenure  ruling  in 
China,  and  the  principle  that  land  also  in  China  has  cer- 
tain qualifications  impressed  upon  it  by  the  laws  of  the 
Empire.  The  decision  clearly  states  the  principle  of  the 
lex  loci  rei  sitce  and  applies  it  as  governing  controversies 
with  reference  to  landed  property  in  China.  This  decision 
dissents  from  a  former  decision  of  the  same  court,  in  which 
it  was  held  that  a  British  subject  who  owned  land  in 
China  should  have  his  rights  thereto  adjudicated  accord- 
ing to  British  law.  It  is  the  law  of  western  nations  that 
in  all  questions  respecting  immovable  property  the  lex  loci 
rei  sitce  prevails.  And  now  the  British  Supreme  Court 
has  adjudged  it  both  right  and  useful  that  the  same  rule 
should  be  acted  upon,  where  British  subjects  are  concerned, 
in  the  administration  of  justice  in  China.  But  the  sounder 
view  appears  that  after  China  has  surrendered  the  juris- 
diction of  her  courts  in  the  case  of  property  owned  by 
foreigners,  the  laws  of  the  countries  of  such  foreigners 
ought  to  govern. 

While  the  invariable  method  of  transferring  land  is  by 
deed  poll  made  by  the  seller  and  subscribed  by  him  and  the 
middlemen,  as  explained,  yet  such  a  deed,  although  effec- 
tive, should  not  be  understood  as  answering  to  the  full  defi- 
nition of  a  deed  in  English  law.     In  China  it  is  advisable 


142  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

for  the  seller  and  the  middlemen  to  affix  their  marks,  and 
not  their  seals,  as  the  use  of  the  seal  is  objectionable  as 
giving  rise  to  questions  of  identity. 

Another  way  of  transferring  property  is  by  mortgage. 
In  the  chapter  on  Law  the  meaning  and  the  effect  of  a  mort- 
gage were  explained,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  that 
chapter  for  the  definition  of  a  mortgage  and  the  analysis 
of  that  form  of  conveyance.  It  is  only  necessary  to  state, 
in  this  connection,  that  the  effect  of  a  mortgage  is  that 
the  land  changes  hands  in  consideration  for  a  sum  of 
money  paid  down,  but  the  original  owner  is  entitled,  on 
repayment  of  the  money,  to  get  back  his  land.  The  mort- 
gagor does  not  pay  any  interest  for  the  use  of  the  money. 
The  mortgagee  enters  into  possession,  and  the  rents  and 
profits  accruing  from  the  land  are  accepted  in  place  of 
interest.  The  land  is  exchanged  for  the  money,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  land  is  lent  and  not  the  money.  The 
money  cannot  be  demanded  back,  though  the  land  can 
be,  but  the  owner  must  come  forward  as  prescribed  by 
law  to  redeem  it,  and  if  he  does  not,  the'  occupant  then 
becomes  the  owner.  There  was  once  great  confusion  with 
reference  to  the  right  of  redemption.  The  time  within 
which  the  right  could  be  exercised  was  very  indefinite, 
and  in  order  that  there  should  be  more  certainty  a  law 
was  passed  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Kien-lung  which 
enacted  that  the  right  of  redemption  must  be  exercised 
within  thirty  years,  unless  the  time  was  specially  men- 
tioned in  the  mortgage.  "This  form  of  transfer  would 
appear  to  have  been  the  original  and,  perhaps  in  early 
times,  the  sole  form.  The  final  alienation  of  land,  espe- 
cially of  old  family  land,  though  not  absolutely  forbidden, 
was  considered  so  improbable  that  the  presumption  was 
always  against  it.  The  land  indeed  was  not  in  theory 
deemed    to   be    strictly  the    personal    property    of    the 


TENURE  AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  143 

occupant  or  owner  for  the  time  being,  but  rather  the  heri- 
tage of  the  family  or  tribe  generally  of  which  the  occupant 
was  a  member.  Subject  to  his  life  interest,  they  all  had  a 
more  or  less  qualified  interest  in  the  reversion,  and  on  his 
death  it  was  bound  to  come  to  some  one  or  other  of  them 
with  further  reversionary  rights  over  it.  The  theory,  how- 
ever, was  not  carried  so  far  as  to  forbid  the  actual  occupant 
from  dealing  with  it  all.  If  very  hard  pressed  he  might 
raise  money  on  his  land,  but  in  doing  so  he  was  bound  as 
far  as  possible  to  have  regard  to  the  family  rights,  either 
by  reserving  the  right  of  redemption  or  by  giving  his  kins- 
men the  first  option  of  purchase."  (George  Jamieson.) 
But  the  theory  in  favour  of  family  rather  than  individual 
ownership  has  felt  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  modern 
commerce  and  has  been  much  modified  in  favour  of  liberal 
trade.  Even  now,  however,  as  has  been  seen,  a  deed  con- 
veying an  absolute  title  to  a  purchaser  contains  a  provision 
that  the  land  was  first  offered  to  the  kinsmen  of  the  seller, 
who  had  been  requested  to  buy,  but  had  refused. 

The  distinction  should  be  observed,  however,  between 
such  a  mortgage  as  has  been  above  described  and  a  mort- 
gage of  land  as  security  for  money  lent  to  be  repaid  within 
a  short  time.  In  the  latter  instance  the  mortgagor  re- 
mains in  possession  of  the  land,  and  the  mortgage  need  not 
be  registered.  It  is  usual  in  such  cases  for  the  mortgagor 
to  deposit  with  the  mortgagee  the  old  title  deed  at  the 
time  the  mortgage  for  the  temporary  loan  is  made.  But 
in  the  event  of  failure  to  repay  the  loan  as  stipulated,  the 
creditor  or  mortgagee  could  not  sell  the  land  without  a 
decree  of  sale  by  the  proper  court.  And  if,  after  the  sale, 
the  price  proved  insufficient  to  liquidate  the  debt,  there  is 
considerable  doubt  if  the  creditor  could  sue  for  the  bal- 
ance, unless  the  right  were  expressed  in  the  mortgage.  If 
there  should  be  other  creditors,  it  is  probable  that  these 


144  CHINA  m   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

would  share  equally  with  the  mortgagee  the  proceeds  of  a 
sale  made  in  accordance  with  a  decree. 

When  a  contract  is  made  in  which  the  mortgagor  sur- 
renders the  equity  of  redemption,  it  is  called  an  irrevocable 
sale  ;  but  for  the  transfer  to  be  legally  recognized  as  irre- 
vocable the  law  prescribes  that  the  phrase  "  irrevocable 
sale "  shall  be  employed  in  the  instrument  of  transfer. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  right  of  the  equity  of  redemption 
is  retained,  it  is  expressed  by  the  employment  of  the  phrase 
"  revocable  sale."  The  use  of  the  phrase  "  revocable  sale  " 
further  indicates  that  the  seller  retains  the  "  root  of 
the  soil,"  while  the  buyer  possesses  only  the  "  face  of  the 
soil." 

In  some  places  when  landed  property  is  sold  by  irrevo- 
cable sale,  one  deed  is  sufficient,  but  in  some  others  four 
deeds  are  prepared  :  a  deed  of  revocable  sale,  a  receipt  for 
the  rest  of  the  value,  a  deed  of  subsequent  irrevocable  sale, 
and  an  acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  alms,  or  in 
other  cases  the  total  value  is  distributed  over  four  deeds 
and  different  dates  are  given  to  them.  A  valid  deed  or 
gift  of  landed  property  for  benevolent  purposes  may  be 
made,  but  it  is  better  replaced  by  a  deed  of  irrevocable 
sale. 

What  is  known  in  English  law  as  a  will  with  the  unfet- 
tered power  of  bequest  or  devise  is  unknown  in  China.  It 
is  not  unusual,  however,  for  a  parent  to  leave  written 
instructions  as  to  his  wishes  in  the  division  of  his  property, 
or  he  may  make  the  division  during  his  life,  but  the  law  of 
China  does  not  accept  the  expression  of  a  last  wish  in  such 
a  form  as  a  testamentary  devise  of  property.  The  rule  is 
that  when  a  man  dies,  his  property,  real  and  personal,  is 
equally  divided  among  all  his  male  children,  whether  born 
of  his  legal  wife  or  of  a  concubine.  When  there  is  no 
male  child,  one  may  be  adopted  from  an  agnatic  relation. 


TENURE   AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  145 

though  a  certain  order  of  kinship  for  adoption  is  fixed. 
But  when  there  is  a  failure  of  the  male  line  and  no  adoption 
has  been  made,  the  relations  of  the  deceased  sometimes 
meet  in  family  council  and  adopt  a  son,  who  then  succeeds 
to  the  whole  inheritance.  The  daughters  succeed  to  the 
property  only  when  there  is  a  complete  failure  of  male 
heirs,  either  natural  or  adopted. 

Another  rule  is,  the  succession  vests  by  operation  of  law, 
and  no  ratification  by  the  authorities  is  required,  nor  is 
there  any  fine  or  succession  duty  payable.  When  there  is 
more  than  one  son,  the  property  can  be  divided  as  the  sons 
may  agree  among  themselves,  or  they  can  enjoy  it  in  com- 
mon without  dividing  it  at  all.  If  there  is  a  mother  or  an 
unmarried  sister  to  be  provided  for,  the  custom  is  for  the 
sons  to  live  as  tenants  in  common  in  order  to  be  better 
able  to  support  their  mother  and  sister.  But  if  it  be  de- 
cided that  the  property  shall  be  divided,  the  eldest  son  by 
custom  may  claim  an  extra  share  in  order  to  defray  the 
cost  of  the  family  sacrifices,  the  charge  of  these  devolving 
upon  him  because  of  his  seniority. 

The  rules  of  succession  in  China  have  been  summarized 
and  stated  in  the  Journal  of  the  China  Branch  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society  as  follows  :  — ^ 

1.  Landed  property  shall  descend  in  infinitum  to  the 
issue  of  the  last  holder. 

2.  Male  issue  shall  be  admitted  before  the  female. 

3.  When  there  are  two  or  more  of  the  male  issue  in  equal 
degree  of  consanguinity,  they  shall  inherit  all  together 
and  equally.  This  rule,  of  course,  applies  to  the  land  of 
the  people  generally,  for  with  regard  to  grants  made  by  the 
crown  to  the  hereditary  nobility,  the  doctrine  of  primo- 
geniture, or  right  of  the  eldest  of  the  males  to  inherit 
both  title  and  property,  applies  much  as  in  English  law. 
Indeed,  this  custom  appears  to  have  taken  deeper  root  in 


146  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

China  and  England  than  in  any  other  countries,  for  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  some  portion  of  the  inheritance  or 
some  charge  upon  it  is,  in  many  cases  at  least,  secured  by 
law  to  the  younger  sons.  With  regard  to  the  disposition 
of  ordinary  landed  property,  the  heirs,  as  already  stated, 
are  always  at  liberty  to  divide  it  as  nearly  as  possible  into 
equal  parts  ;  and  when  such  division  is  impracticable,  it  is 
the  custom  to  pay  in  an  amount  of  money  from  the  person- 
ality sufficient  to  bring  up  the  value  of  the  smaller  lots  to 
that  of  the  larger,  and  then  to  draw  for  the  choice  of  the 
portions  of  the  property  thus  equally  divided,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  gathering  of  friends  and  neighbours.  Of  course 
the  doctrine  of  seniores  priores  applies  in  this  case  also, 
and  a  younger  brother  would  not  be  permitted  to  divide 
the  landed  property  in  case  the  elder  brothers  should  elect 
to  hold  it  intact. 

4.  All  lineal  descendants,  in  infinitum,  of  any  person 
deceased  shall  represent  the  last  purchaser. 

5.  On  failure  of  lineal  descendants  of  the  purchaser,  the 
inheritance  shall  descend  to  his  widow. 

6.  There  being  no  widow  living,  the  inheritance  shall 
descend  to  the  collateral  relations,  these  being  of  the 
blood  of  the  purchaser,  subject  to  rules  2,  3,  and  4,  above 
cited. 

7.  In  default  of  the  heirs  above  mentioned  the  land 
shall  revert  to  the  government,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
head-borough  and  villagers  to  report  such  cases  to  the 
local  authorities,  on  pain  of  punishment  as  abettors  in  an 
attempt  at  concealment. 

It  would  be  fairly  accurate  to  estimate  that  about  one- 
half  of  the  whole  soil  of  China  is  tilled  by  tenants,  and 
that  the  other  half  is  owned  by  retired  officials  and  their 
families.  But  there  is  no  class  of  hereditary  nobles  in 
China,  nor  are  titles  of  nobility  associated  with  territorial 


TENURE  AND  TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  147 

possessions.  The  land  owned  by  retired  oflBcials,  a  class 
known  as  the  literati  and  gentry,  is  usually  leased  to  small 
farmers,  who  become  tenants  from  year  to  year,  or  at  will. 
It  is  the  custom  in  some  localities  to  demand  from  the 
lessee  a  certain  amount  of  money  on  deposit,  which  is  gen- 
erally about  three  years'  rental,  and  which  is  called  caution 
money.  This  caution  money  is  returned  to  the  lessee 
when  the  lease  is  relinquished,  unless  it  should  be  applied 
to  the  payment  of  rent  due.  The  amount  should  by  law 
be  set  out  in  the  agreement  between  the  lessor  and 
lessee,  and  if  there  is  a  verbal  agreement  only,  there  ought 
to  be  witnesses  as  to  the  amount  and  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  deposited. 

"  Leases  of  land  differ  greatly  in  both  the  mode  and  the 
time  of  paying  rent ;  they  differ  more  as  regards  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes.  The  amount  of  rent  depends  on  several 
circumstances  :  — 

"  1.  On  the  amount  of  caution  money  paid,  — the  greater 
the  caution  money  the  less  the  rent,  since  the  caution 
money  may  be  placed  at  interest. 

"  2.  On  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  excellence  of  its 
position,  such  as  —  at  no  great  distance  from  a  stream,  so 
that  irrigation  and  drainage  are  easy. 

"  3.  On  the  scarcity  of  land  to  be  leased,  i.e.  the  greater 
the  number  of  inhabitants,  the  greater  the  demand  for 
land  to  be  cultivated,  and  therefore  the  greater  its  value. 

"  4.  On  how  much  is  supplied  by  the  lessee,  i.e.  whether 
or  not  the  lessor  supplies  to  the  lessee,  dwellings,  seed, 
manure,  and  the  more  expensive  agricultural  implements, 
such  as  irrigation- wheels. 

"  5.  On  the  actual  size  of  the  mow  (one-sixth  of  an  Eng- 
lish acre),  —  for  since  the  measure  of  surface  differs  in 
different  localities,  a  Tnow  is  larger  in  one  place  and  smaller 
in  another. 


148  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

"6.  Finally,  it  not  infrequently  happens  that  a  space 
which  is  estimated  to  contain  within  its  boundaries,  both 
nominally  and  judicially,  for  payment  of  taxes,  a  total  of, 
say,  ten  mow^  in  reality  contains  eleven  mow^  or  only 
nine.  The  principal  cause  of  this  uncertainty  is  said  to 
have  been  the  fraud  in  olden  time  of  the  vendors  of 
these   lands."     (Peter  Hoang.) 

The  diversity  of  conditions  necessarily  gives  rise  to  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  lease,  and  from  the  same  authority  as  the 
one  quoted  above,  I  select  a  few  of  the  principal  ones :  — 

1.  A  lease  where  the  rent  is  payable  in  rice  only  husked 
but  not  cleaned;  in  Soochow  and  Sung-kiang  the  aver- 
age amount  per  mow  is  nine  tow;  payment  is  required 
at  the  end  of  the  tenth  moon,  and  is  often  made  in  money, 
the  rice  being  converted  at  its  market  price. 

2.  The  rent  is  payable  in  unhusked  rice;  the  average 
amount  per  mow  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  catties  (a  catty 
is  one  and  one-third  pounds),  and  is  payable  in  the  ninth 
moon. 

3.  The  rent  is  payable  in  money  in  advance,  i.e.  in  each 
spring  before  sowing ;  the  average  amount  per  mow  is 
about  two  thousand  cash. 

4.  The  rent  is  payable  each  year  after  the  autumn  har- 
vest ;  the  average  amount  is  a  little  greater  than  if  paid 
in  advance. 

5.  A  lease  by  which  the  lessor  and  lessee  share  the 
crop  in  kind  ;  if  the  lessor  has  received  no  caution  money 
from  the  lessee,  or  if  he  has  supplied  seed  and  manure,  the 
lessor  commonly  takes  six-tenths  and  the  lessee  four- 
tenths;  otherwise  the  shares  are  equal. 

6.  A  lease  by  which  in  each  year,  while  the  autumn 
crops  are  maturing,  the  lessor,  by  a  broker,  and  the  lessee, 
examining  first  the  state  of  the  crop,  agree  in  the  propor- 
tion to  be  paid  after  the  harvest  to  the  lessor ;  for  the 


TENURE   AND   TRANSFER    OF   PROPERTY  149 

most  part  the  lessor  takes  four-tenths,  since  generally 
for  this  kind  of  lease  the  lessor  has  received  a  fairly  large 
amount  of  caution  money. 

7.  A  lease  in  which  the  lessee  for  every  thousand 
paces,  i.e.  four  mow,  pays  in  May  one  shih  (about  103.1 
litres)  of  wheat ;  in  August,  one  shih  of  Indian  corn  ; 
and  in  November,  one  sMh  of  beans ;  this  form  is  frequent 
in  Tsungming. 

When  the  crop  of  the  year  is  only  an  average  one,  it  is 
the  custom  for  the  owner  of  the  land  to  remit  a  part  of  the 
rent  in  proportion  to  the  crop.  The  rule  of  remission  is 
that  which  governs  benevolent  institutions  that  are  the 
owners  of  land,  in  remitting  to  their  lessees.  There  are 
years  when  the  Emperor  remits  the  imperial  tribute,  and 
then  the  owners  should  legally  yield  three-tenths  of  the 
remission  to  the  lessees. 

I  will  repeat  again,  that  in  China  there  is  a  penalty  pro- 
vided for  the  non-performance  of  every  obligation,  whether 
civil  or  criminal,  and  if  a  lessee  does  not  pay  his  rent,  he 
is  liable  to  a  penalty  of  eighty  blows,  and  payment  is 
enforced.  If  the  subject  of  a  lease  is  a  house  instead  of 
land,  the  lessor  still  demands  a  deposit  of  caution  money 
in  an  amount  about  equal  to  three  months  of  a  year's  rent, 
and  the  same  rule  applies,  —  that  the  larger  the  amount  of 
caution  money  deposited,  the  less  is  the  amount  of  the 
rent.  The  lessee  signs  a  lease  in  which  are  enumerated 
the  number  of  rooms,  all  articles  belonging  to  the  house, 
such  as  windows,  doors,  and  all  conditions  of  the  agree- 
ment. When  the  lessee  wishes  to  quit  the  house,  he  is 
required  to  give  the  lessor  three  months'  notice  of  such 
intention ;  and  should  he  be  ejected,  without  fault  by  the 
lessee,  it  is  customary  to  give  the  lessee  three  months' 
notice  also,  and,  in  addition,  for  the  lessor  to  remit  three 
mouths'  rent.     If  the  house  occupied  by  the  lessee   be 


150  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

destroyed  by  a  fire  which  originated  in  it,  then  the  lessor 
is  not  required  to  remit  to  the  lessee  any  part  of  the 
caution  money;  but  if  the  fire  began  in  a  neighbouring 
house,  the  lessor  shall  remit  one-third  of  such  money. 
If  the  house  thus  destroyed  by  fire  is  rebuilt,  and  if 
it  is  agreed  that  the  lessee  may  re-lease,  there  must  be  a 
new  agreement  entered  into,  and  all  the  conditions  settled 
anew  as  if  there  never  had  been  any  agreement. 

Land  formed  by  alluvial  deposits  is  the  subject  of  a 
special  provision,  and  such  land  is  divided  into  two 
classes  :  the  old  land  now  re-formed,  and  land  indepen- 
dently formed  in  the  middle  of  a  stream.  "  Re-formed 
land  is  that  which,  once  washed  away  by  the  force  of  the 
waters,  has  reappeared ;  land  independently  formed  is  an 
island  which  has  formed  in  the  middle  of  a  stream  or  in 
the  sea.  Re-formed  land  is  legally  restored  to  its  former 
proprietor,  whether  it  is  or  is  not  separated  from  the  land 
of  which  it  once  formed  part ;  in  the  case  of  land  separated 
from  its  former  hold,  washing  away  from  one  bank  of  the 
stream,  and  forming  on  the  other,  as  the  land  gradually 
washes  away  from  the  one  bank,  land  forming  on  the  other 
bank  may  be  substituted  for  it ;  or  when  land  has  washed 
away  from  the  bank  of  the  stream,  and  then  in  the  same 
stream  not  far  from  the  bank  an  island  is  formed,  this  is 
recognized  as  actually  the  land  washed  away.  In  order 
that  the  old  proprietor  may  make  a  legal  claim  to  the 
re-formed  land,  he  is  required  to  prove  that  it  is  in  the 
same  place  where  he  already  had  possession.  The  proof 
admitted,  besides  evident  signs,  if  any  exist,  is  the  entry 
in  the  public  records,  in  which  the  proprietor,  immedi- 
ately after  the  washing  away  of  his  land,  took  care  that 
its  situation  and  limits  should  be  inscribed.  Re-formed 
land  which  is  reclaimed  without  sufficient  proof,  and  land 
formed  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  where  formerly  there 


TENURE   AND   TRANSFER   OP   PROPERTY  151 

existed  no  land,  besides  islands  independently  formed  in 
a  stream  or  the  sea,  belong  to  the  government,  which  sells 
them  through  the  magistrate  to  those  who  first  offer  the 
value  fixed  by  law  proportioned  to  the  quality  of  the  soil. 
Land  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  sea,  or  a  stream,  or  lake, 
should  be  measured  each  winter,  and  taxes  are  remitted 
for  any  part  of  it  washed  away.  New  land  is  measured 
every  five  years,  and  assessed  for  taxes  according  to  the 
fertility  of  each  lot;  if  any  land,  originally  lightly  taxed, 
in  course  of  time  becomes  richer,  a  heavier  tax  is  imposed 
on  it.  When  land  is  re-formed,  its  former  owners,  either 
because  they  have  migrated  far  away  or  because  it  is  difiB- 
cult  to  prove  their  right,  commonly  put  in  no  claim  to  it. 
Hence  all  formed  land  deposited  on  the  edge  of  a  neigh- 
bouring property  is  commonly  occupied  by  the  neighbour- 
ing proprietor,  and  is  sold  to  him  by  the  government  at 
the  time  of  legal  measuring.  An  island  or  land  inde- 
pendently formed  in  the  sea  or  in  a  stream  is  generally 
occupied  and  bought  by  influential  people  of  the  district 
and  settled  by  colonization."     (Peter  Hoang.) 

In  order  to  remove  all  doubt  with  reference  to  title 
deeds  a  certain  form  was  prescribed  and  issued  for  the 
whole  Empire  in  1783  a.d.,  and  for  new  land  formed  by 
alluvial  deposits  after  that  date  the  proprietor  received 
what  is  known  as  a  treasurer's  certificate  or  a  magistrate's 
certificate.  When  these  documents  are  lost,  the  tax  cer- 
tificates are  taken  as  proofs  of  ownership.  A  person  in 
possession  of  a  title  deed  is  presumed  to  be  the  proprie- 
tor of  the  land  described  in  it,  but  the  presumption  may 
be  rebutted  by  proof  that  the  possession  was  illegally 
acquired.  When  land  is  sold,  the  seller  delivers  the  title 
deed  to  the  buyer  along  with  the  deed  of  sale  which  he 
executes,  and  notes  the  fact  of  delivery  at  the  bottom  of 
the  latter.     But  if  only  a  small  portion  of  the  land  is  sold, 


152  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

the  seller  executes  a  supplementary  title  deed  and  notes 
on  the  original  title  deed,  in  the  presence  of  a  witness,  what 
part  it  is  of  the  land  described  in  the  latter,  giving  the 
size,  with  metes  and  boundaries,  the  name  of  the  buyer, 
and  any  other  fact  essential  to  the  identification  of  the  part 
sold,  and  in  especial  why  the  seller  retains  the  original  title 
deeds.  But  when  the  greater  part  of  the  land  is  sold,  the 
original  title  deed  is  then  delivered  to  the  buyer,  who  exe- 
cutes a  supplementary  title  deed  to  the  seller  and  notes  on 
the  original  what  part  of  the  land  covered  by  it  has  been 
retained,  and  by  whom.  When  a  title  deed  is  once  issued, 
it  is  never  renewed;  if  lost,  the  owner  of  the  lost  deed 
should  at  once  petition  the  proper  magistrate,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  record  the  fact  in  his  office  archives.  If,  how- 
ever, the  owner  be  a  man  of  position,  the  magistrate  will 
usually  issue  to  him  a  sealed  instrument  in  which  the 
owner's  right  is  confirmed  and  which  cancels  the  title 
deed  if  it  exist.  In  a  case  where  the  title  deed  has 
been  lost  and  the  owner  of  the  land  has  contracted  to 
sell  it,  he  executes  to  the  buyer  a  supplementary  title 
deed  and  adds  at  the  foot  of  it  a  note,  showing  when  and 
how  the  loss  occurred  and  when  the  magistrate  was  in- 
formed of  the  loss;  at  the  same  time  the  seller  delivers  to 
the  buyer  his  tax  certificates  for  the  last  few  years.  The 
buyer  also  claims  all  former  documents  relating  to  the 
land,  the  documents  delivered  being  enumerated  at 
the  foot  of  the  new  deed ;  if,  however,  the  old  documents 
have  been  lost,  their  loss  is  then  noted  and  this  clause 
added :  If  old  documents  relating  to  the  same  land  exist, 
they  are  null  and  void.  The  supplementary  deed  which 
replaces  the  title  deed  is  delivered  to  the  buyer  on  each 
change  of  ownership ;  if  it  is  lost,  a  deed  supplementary  to 
it  is  made  out. 

The  Chinese  regard  the  Emperor   Kien-lung  as  their 


TENURE   AND   TRANSFER   OF   PROPERTY  153 

Justinian.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  he  issued  a 
decree,  in  which  it  appears  that  the  words  "  buy  and  sell " 
do  not  convey  an  absolute  right  or  title  to  property  as 
would  the  equivalent  "  buy  and  sell "  given  in  our  diction- 
aries, but  merely  mean  the  transfer  of  an  interest  liable  to 
redemption.  To  prevent  litigation  the  decree  ordains 
that  in  the  future,  in  order  to  convey  land  permanently, 
the  words  "  absolute  sale  without  power  of  redemption  " 
shall  be  plainly  inserted  in  the  deeds,  that  all  lands  con- 
veyed within  the  thirty  years  then  past  not  containing 
this  definite  expression  shall  be  liable  to  redemption, 
while  in  order  to  prevent  litigation's  becoming  immortal 
while  man  is  mortal,  it  is  laid  down  that  all  land  conveyed 
more  than  thirty  years  prior  to  the  date  of  the  decree  shall 
be  held  irredeemable. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  on  Government 
that  each  province  in  China  is  practically  independent, 
with  its  own  peculiar  customs  and  laws,  and  so  it  is  with 
the  customs  and  laws  which  govern  landed  property  in 
China.  One  must  study  the  custom  of  the  province,  and 
even  the  district  in  which  the  particular  land  is  located,  if 
he  wishes  to  inform  himself  accurately  what  written  in- 
strument comes  within  the  definition*  of  a  deed,  a  mort- 
gage, a  lease,  a  contract,  and  what  is  necessary  to  make 
each  effective. 


CHAPTER  VI 

TAXATION 

Of  all  the  functions  of  the  government  of  China,  that 
exercised  in  levying  and  accounting  for  taxes  most  clearly 
illustrates  the  difference  between  the  theory  and  the  prac- 
tice of  its  administration.  In  theory  there  is  no  government 
that  levies  taxes  with  an  evener  hand  than  the  Chinese, 
but  in  practice  there  is  not  another  where  the  tax-collec- 
tor indulges  in  rapacity  and  dishonesty  to  a  greater  extent. 
The  principles  of  taxation,  approved  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment, appear  just  and  equitable ;  but  the  injustice  is  in 
the  application  by  the  provincial  authorities,  and  unfor- 
tunately, so  long  as  these  authorities  meet  the  demands 
upon  their  exchequers,  there  is  seldom  any  very  close 
investigation  of  the  means  employed  to  honour  such 
demands. 

There  is  a  section  in  the  Code  which  provides  for  impar- 
tiality in  the  levying  of  taxes  and  personal  services.  The 
principle  is  that  "  in  all  districts,  where  taxes  in  money 
and  in  kind,  and  the  extraordinary  and  miscellaneous  per- 
sonal services  to  be  required  from  the  people,  are  esti- 
mated and  apportioned,  due  regard  shall  be  had  in  each 
case  to  the  extent  of  the  family  in  point  of  numbers  and 
to  its  ability  to  contribute,  accprding  to  which  the  mem- 
bers thereof  shall  be  rated  in  the  superior,  middle,  or 
inferior  class  of  inhabitants. 

"  If  the  poorer  inhabitants  are  compelled  to  perform  the 
services  from  which  those  who  are  rich  are  excused,  or 

164 


TAXATION  155 

any  other  such  unjust  partiality  is  discoverable  in  the 
conduct  of  the  officers  of  the  government,  it  shall  be  law- 
ful for  the  injured  poor  to  appear  and  complain  thereof  to 
the  tribunal  of  the  immediate  superiors  of  such  officers, 
whence  they  may  repeat  the  appeal  to  the  several  superior 
tribunals  in  succession.  The  officer  and  his  official  agents 
who  shall  be  convicted  of  any  such  breach  of  this  law, 
shall,  each  of  them,  be  punished  with  one  hundred  blows, 
and  the  unjust  or  partial  arrangement  shall  be  annulled. 
The  officers  of  any  tribunal  where  such  an  appeal  shall 
have  been  refused  a  hearing  shall  be  punished  with 
eighty  blows,  as  the  law  against  bribery  to  commit  an 
unlawful  act  may  warrant  or  require." 

Twenty  centuries  ago  the  government  of  China  an- 
nounced that  such  principles  as  are  set  forth  in  the  above 
quotation  should  govern  in  the  matter  of  taxation,  and 
there  has  since  been  no  change  in  the  equity  of  those 
principles.  Through  all  changes  in  other  respects  the 
government  has  shown  the  desire  to  remain  steadfast  in 
justice  to  all  its  subjects  in  the  apportionment  of  taxes. 

While  she  announces  her  purpose  to  cause  the  pecuniary 
burdens  of  government  to  bear  evenly  on  all  the  subjects, 
China  also  requires  of  the  subject  the  utmost  good  faith  in 
registering  in  the  "  public  books  "  the  land  he  may  own 
which  is  liable  to  taxation.  "  Whoever  fraudulently  evades 
the  payment  of  the  land  tax,  by  suppressing  or  omitting  the 
register  of  his  land  in  the  public  books,  shall  be  punish- 
able in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  the  chargeable  land 
omitted."  (Code.)  And  "if  the  land  is  entered  in 
the  register,  but  falsely  represented,  as,  —  unproductive 
when  productive,  lightly  chargeable  when  heavily  charge- 
able, or  if  the  land  is  nominally  made  over  in  trust  to  an- 
other, in  order  to  exempt  the  real  proprietor  from  nominal 
service,"  the  guilty  party  shall  be  severely  punished,  "  but 


156  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

instead  of  a  forfeiture  of  the  lands,  the  register  of  them 
shall  be  simply  corrected,  and  the  assessment  and  personal 
service  of  the  real  proprietor  be  established  agreeably 
thereto."     (Code.) 

The  government  is  not  unmindful  that  the  ability  of  the 
subject  to  pay  may  be  impaired  from  excessive  rain,  the 
overflowing  of  waters,  excessive  drought,  unseasonable 
frosts,  flights  of  locusts,  and  the  like ;  and  when  such  is 
the  case,  it  is  provided  that  the  customary  assessments 
shall  be  proportionally  reduced,  or  remitted  altogether. 

When  the  taxpayer  sustains  damage  from  any  of  the 
causes  mentioned,  or  from  other  causes  beyond  his  control, 
his  representation  in  connection  therewith  to  the  magis- 
trate of  his  district  shall  receive  the  prompt  and  careful 
attention  of  that  official.  And  as  if  to  remove  from  officers 
and  clerks  officiating  in  any  of  the  departments  of  the 
government  the  motive  to  enrich  themselves  by  means  of 
their  official  positions,  "  no  such  officers  shall,  during  the 
exercise  of  their  authority  therein,  purchase,  or  hold  by 
purchase,  any  lands  or  tenements  within  the  limits  of  such 
jurisdiction."     (Code.) 

In  connection  not  only  with  the  subject  of  taxation,  but 
with  other  subjects  about  which  the  central  government 
undertakes  to  legislate,  in  theory  perfect  fairness  would 
seem  to  govern.  If  only  the  fundamental  provisions  of  the 
law  be  studied,  nothing  more  would  apparently  be  desirable 
to  make  China  a  perfectly  governed  empire,  but  most  of 
this  beauty  and  harmony  of  organic  structure  is  marred 
when  put  into  practice.  The  Board  of  Revenue  at  Peking 
is  charged  with  the  duty  of  arranging  and  supervising 
financial  matters  pertaining  to  the  interest  of  the  Empire. 
Before  the  end  of  each  year  the  board  makes  up  an  esti- 
mate, which,  when  approved  by  the  Emperor,  is  sent  to 
the  viceroys  and  governors  of  the  provinces  in  the  form 


TAXATION  167 

of  an  imperial  edict.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  board  to 
apportion  the  taxes  among  the  various  treasuries  and  col- 
lectorates  of  the  provinces  as  equitably  as  possible,  and 
there  are  one  or  more  in  each  province  in  which  should 
be  deposited  the  taxes  as  soon  as  collected. 

The  taxes  on  land  and  grain  are  estimated  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  seven  mow  of  land,  or  an  acre  and  one-sixth, 
will  support  a  man  and  his  family  ;  but  of  course  not  every 
Chinese  has  as  much  land,  and  some  have  none  at  all. 

China,  like  other  Oriental  countries,  relies  upon  the  land 
tax  as  the  principal  source  of  revenue;  but  it  is  strange 
that  in  a  country  so  large  in  area  as  China,  the  revenue 
derived  from  the  tax  on  land  is  not  so  large  in  amount  as 
it  was  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  exceeds 
but  by  a  fraction  the  revenue  derived  from  the  foreign  cus- 
toms collectorate.  If  an  average  be  made  for  the  three 
years  1892-1894,  China  receives  from  the  land  tax  about 
taels  25,000,000  annually,  but  it  must  not  be  concluded 
that  this  sum  represents  all  that  is  collected.  It  may 
be  that  it  does  not  represent  half,  for  if  the  provincial 
treasuries  are  prompt  in  honouring  the  drafts  of  the 
central  government,  the  actual  sum  collected  is  not  too 
closely  inquired  about.  And  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is 
a  province  in  China  that  could  make  up  a  balance  sheet 
fairly  showing  the  receipts  and  disbursements  for  any 
single  year  of  its  history. 

The  principle  upon  which  taxes  have  been  levied  has 
not  always  been  the  same.  China  has  been  ruled  by  sev- 
eral dynastic  houses,  and  under  each  there  have  been 
changes  made,  but  the  present  dynasty  has  been  able  to 
avoid  in  part  some  of  the  heavy  taxation  imposed  by  that 
of  the  Ming. 

During  the  feudal  period  the  principle  was  adopted  of 
dividing  a  square  piece  of  land  into  nine  equal  parts,  each 


168  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

containing  one  hundred  mow.  The  central  square  of 
one  hundred  mow  belonged  to  the  government,  and  eight 
families  cultivated  each  their  own  square,  v/hile  the 
square  owned  by  the  government  was  cultivated  by  all. 

When  the  land  was  hilly,  not  irrigated,  or  marshy,  the 
amount  of  taxes  to  be  paid  on  such  was  regulated  accord- 
ing to  its  nature  and  the  productive  capacity  of  the  soil. 
Dr.  J.  Edkins  states  that  when  the  Manchus  conquered 
China  there  were  15,833,333  acres  of  land  on  the  land  tax 
record,  but  that  the  conquerors  only  levied  taxes  on  land 
already  cultivated.  In  1810  there  were  17,913,432  acres. 
According  to  the  same  authority  there  is  less  land  now 
under  grain  cultivation  than  in  the  Ming  dynasty  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  but  this  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that 
in  China  there  is  at  present  a  larger  acreage  devoted  to 
the  cultivation  of  cotton,  and  perhaps  of  other  crops. 

Although  the  Manchu  dynasty  governs  China  by  the 
right  of  conquest,  slight  taxation  has  been  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  its  legislation ;  but  the  merit  claimed  in 
that  regard  is  more  than  offset  by  the  negligence  of  the 
dynasty  in  not  having  the  highways  of  the  Empire  kept 
in  a  state  of  proper  repair.  The  splendid  canals  and  roads 
and  bridges  which,  under  other  dynasties,  were  the  per- 
fection of  engineering  skill,  are  now  in  decay  and  ruin. 
The  Grand  Canal,  which  at  one  time  connected  the  capital 
with  the  southern  section  of  the  Empire,  is  in  many  places 
so  out  of  repair  as  to  be  almost  practically  useless, 
and  this  is  a  great  inconvenience  to  internal  trade.  It 
may  be  stated  that  there  are  no  roads  in  China  such  as 
would  be  recognized  as  roads  in  western  countries.  There 
are  a  few  beaten  tracks  over  which  merchandise  has  been 
carried  for  centuries,  but  apparently  the  aim  of  the  Manchu 
is  to  make  all  he  can  out  of  China  and  to  do  as  little  as  he 
can  for  her  advancement. 


TAXATION  159 

As  the  rice  crop  is  tlie  basis  of  taxation,  the  subject  can 
be  made  intelligible  by  selecting  one  or  two  districts  and 
showing  the  quantity  of  rice  levied.  In  the  Wu  district 
the  quantity  levied  is  149-155  piculs.  If  the  public  ac- 
counts are  examined,  it  appears  that  whatever  other  crops 
are  produced  in  that  district,  are  classed  as  so  much 
rice  ad  valorem^  and  the  whole  is  labelled  taxes  on  land. 
Edkins  states  the  taxes  at  Shanghai  to  be  .29^  of  a  picul 
on  each  mow  of  good  land,  and  since  a  picul  of  rice  is 
worth  about  five  Mexican  dollars,  and  the  harvest  may 
be  two  piculs,  the  tax  on  one  mow  would  be  about  $1.50. 
On  inferior  land,  and  land  outside  of  the  marshes,  of 
course  the  tax  would  not  be  so  much. 

A  tax  levied  on  cultivated  fields  is  called  liang.  The 
personal  service  or  capitation  tax  is  called  ting.  Thus 
when  the  Code  provides  for  impartiality  in  levying  the 
land  tax  and  for  personal  services,  the  latter  is  the  same^ 
as  the  capitation  tax  in  English  law.  When  the  land  tax 
and  the  personal  service  tax  are  intended  to  be  included 
together,  the  tax  is  then  called  ti-ting. 

This  is  the  way  extortion  is  sometimes  practised  on  the 
taxpayers  by  the  under  officials.  Messengers  are  sent  by 
a  magistrate  to  the  farmers  in  the  district  to  notify  them 
that  their  taxes  are  due  and  to  hasten  payment.  On  arriv- 
ing at  a  farmer's  house  a  messenger  expects  a  good  meal, 
and  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  farmer  to  give  him  a  solid 
meal  with  as  much  wine  as  he  can  drink.  But  when  the 
farmer  presents  himself  with  the  note  of  assessment  of 
the  taxes  due,  a  sum  in  excess  is  invariably  demanded. 
Althougb  the  farmer  knows  this  demand  to  be  unjust,  he 
usually  finds  that  to  pay  it  is  to  his  interest,  or  some  charge 
may  be  brought  against  him,  such  as  obstructing  the  col- 
lecting of  legal  taxes,  which  in  all  probability  would  cost 
him  more  than  the  sum  demanded.     To  correct  the  abuse 


160  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

the  present  Dowager  Empress  once  ordered  that  the  vice- 
roys and  governors  should  direct  the  subprefects  and  city 
magistrates  to  send  a  grain  tax  form  with  the  amount  due 
filled  in.  This  was  meant  to  reach  the  farmer  beforehand, 
and  he  was  to  bring  it  with  him  on  going  to  the  city  to 
pay,  and  exchange  it  for  the  tax  receipt.  No  additional 
sum  was  to  be  charged  as  a  messenger  tax,  and  if  the 
subprefects  or  magistrates  should  give  unfair  advantages 
to  certain  persons,  they  could  be  accused  before  the 
governor-general.  A  way,  however,  was  found  to  avoid 
this  edict  of  the  Empress,  for  instead  of  writing  the 
amount  of  the  tax  distinctly  in  the  blank  form  it  was  filled 
in  with  large  grass  characters.  The  consequence  was  that 
overpayments  were  still  made  in  the  provinces  by  the  help- 
less farmers,  whose  experience  taught  them  that  it  was 
advisable  to  submit  to  the  extortion  rather  than  appeal  to 
the  law  to  vindicate  their  rights. 

In  a  revenue  memorandum  the  inspector-general  of  the 
Chinese  Imperial  Maritime  Customs,  Sir  Robert  Hart,  has 
recently  submitted  to  the  central  government  a  statement 
indicating  what  the  land  tax  of  China  might  yield  and  how 
it  might  be  collected.  I  have  seen  no  statement  clearer 
than  this,  nor  has  the  government  been  more  directly  in- 
formed of  its  inefficiency  in  providing  the  ways  and  means 
for  necessary  expenses  as  well  as  for  the  defence  of  the 
Empire. 

The  inspector-general  informed  China  that  her  weak- 
ness was  the  real  origin  of  the  war  now  waged  between 
Japan  and  Russia.  In  proof  of  his  opinion  he  reminds 
her  that  the  entire  revenue,  comprising  customs  duties, 
salt  gabelle,  land  tax,  etc.,  amounts  to  only  about  taels 
80,000,000  annually,  and  that  more  than  half  of  this  is 
mortgaged  for  the  payment  of  foreign  loans,  indemnities, 
etc.,  and  adds  that  some  change  in  the  method  of  raising 


TAXATION  161 

revenue  is  absolutely  necessary.  He  refers  to  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  various  advisers,  but  concludes  that  the  one 
which  gives  real  promise  of  supplying  the  want  is  that 
which  recommends  rearrangement  of  the  land  tax,  and 
proceeds  to  advise  how  this  might  be  done. 

The  estimate  is  that  China  proper  will  measure  in  length 
4000  li  (three  It  are  equal  to  an  English  mile)  and 
in  breadth  about  the  same.  This  estimate  shows  that 
the  eighteen  provinces  contain  16,000,000  square  li,  and  in 
each  square  li  there  are  about  540  Chinese  mow  (six  mow 
are  about  equal  to  one  English  acre).  But  if  the  estimate 
be  made  that  500  mow  is  the  equivalent  of  a  square  li,  China 
would  then  contain  8,000,000,000  mow.  The  inspector- 
general  concludes  that  if  each  mow  were  to  pay  as  land 
tax  200  copper  cash,  and  if  2000  be  taken  as  representing 
1  silver  tael,  every  10  mow  would  pay  1  tael,  and  the  whole 
superficies  ought  accordingly  to  yield  taels  800,000,000. 
If  deductions  be  made  for  mountains,  lakes,  and  rivers, 
and  allowances  be  also  made  for  bad  harvests  and  unpro- 
ductive soil,  there  would  still  be,  at  a  reasonable  average, 
at  least  half  of  the  whole  of  China  capable  of  paying  land 
tax,  which  would  in  this  case  amount  to  taels  400,000,000. 
As  no  revenue  could  be  more  surely  relied  on  than  the 
land  tax,  and  none  would  prove  as  undiminishing  in 
amount  and  as  uninterrupted  in  continuity,  not  only  would 
there  be  enough  to  provide  for  every  national  require- 
ment, and  leave  a  surplus,  but  it  might  be  collected  with 
nothing  like  the  annoyance  and  inconvenience  and  actual 
damage  now  suffered  by  the  people.  Certainly  when  the 
entire  revenue  of  the  Empire  amounts  to  about  taels 
80,000,000  only,  the  advice  of  the  inspector-general,  and 
the  reason  he  gives  for  it,  merit  the  most  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  central  government,  for  in  India,  where  the 
conditions  in  regard  to  population  and  comparative  wealth 


162  CHINA   IN  LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

are  similar  to  those  of  China,  the  land  tax  amounts  to 
taels  100,000,000. 

What  I  wish  to  present  in  this  chapter  is  a  considera- 
tion of  some  of  the  main  principles  which  underlie  Chinese 
taxation.  I  do  not  intend  to  make  them  confusing  by  an 
array  of  details,  but  probably  these  principles  can  be  made 
clearer  by  naming  a  few  more  of  the  sources  of  revenue 
and  by  showing  how  taxes  are  derived  from  such  sources. 
The  land  and  grain  taxes  have  been  referred  to,  and  the 
other  main  sources  may  be  named  as  follows  :  taxes  on 
salt,  direct  or  indirect,  likin  tax,  foreign  customs,  subsidies 
from  other  provinces,  taxes  on  native  opium  and  opium 
licenses,  native  customs,  and  rents  on  special  tenures. 
There  are  several  miscellaneous  sources,  but  those  named 
above  are  the  principal  ones.  The  amount  of  taxes  derived 
from  all  sources  approximates  the  sum  of  taels  115,000,000, 
but  it  has  been  seen  that  Sir  Robert  Hart  does  not  rely 
upon  more  than  taels  80,000,000  as  certain. 

The  tax  which  the  foreign  merchant  has  heard  and 
read  most  about  is  known  as  the  likin  tax;  and  a  statement 
how  this  tax  is  levied  and  collected  will  at  least  illustrate 
one  principle.  The  tax  is  new  in  comparison  with  the  land 
and  salt  taxes.  It  first  came  into  force  in  1853,  but  then 
it  appears  to  have  been  somewhat  local,  though  in  1861 
the  Taiping  rebellion  had  so  exhausted  the  treasury  of 
China  that  it  was  made  general  throughout  the  Empire 
and  collected  wherever  the  authority  of  the  central  govern- 
ment extended.  It  is  as  legal  as  any  other  form  of  taxa- 
tion, and  is  so  recognized  in  the  new  treaties  into  which 
China  has  entered  with  western  nations.  If  I  remember 
correctly,  there  is  a  provision  in  most,  if  not  in  all,  of  the 
new  treaties  providing  for  the  abolition  or  modification  of 
the  likin  tax.  Surely  there  is  no  form  of  taxation  in 
China  more  embarrassing  to  internal  trade  or  more  ob- 


TAXATION  163 

structive  to  the  sending  of  foreign  importations  to  the 
interior  markets,  and  the  reason  for  this  is  evident  when 
it  is  borne  in  mind  how  the  likin  tax  is  collected. 

As  soon  as  the  imperial  decree  is  issued  authorizing  the 
levy  of  likin^  the  provincial  authorities  at  once  organize 
a  bureau  presided  over  by  one  or  more  officers  of  high 
rank,  whose  first  duty  is  to  map  out  all  the  places  where 
it  would  be  profitable  to  locate  a  likin  station.  When  a 
station  is  established,  a  small  official  is  put  in  charge  who 
is  responsible  to  the  head  office.  In  all  the  large  towns 
and  along  the  main  land  and  water  routes  one  will  find 
a  likin  station.  The  number  and  frequency  depend  on 
how  much  trade  there  is,  and  how  much  likin  tax  it  will 
stand  without  being  strangled.  At  some  places,  as  along 
the  lower  part  of  the  Grand  Canal,  the  likin  stations  will  be 
found  to  follow  one  another  at  intervals  of  twenty  miles  or 
so.  In  other  places,  where  trade  is  scanty  and  the  stations 
can  be  turned  by  detours,  they  are  not  so  frequent.  To 
give  to  this  system  of  taxation  the  appearance  of  unity,  in 
theory  at  least,  a  tariff  is  arranged  and  supposed  to  be 
published  for  general  information,  but  in  practice  very 
little  attention  is  given  to  the  so-called  authorized  tariff. 
The  custom  is  for  the  merchants  and  officials  to  enter  into 
a  bargain  as  to  the  sum  to  be  paid  in  full  for  the  cargo, 
or  for  the  merchant,  if  he  is  a  regular  customer,  to  pay  a 
lump  sum  for  a  particular  voyage  or  a  particular  trade. 

In  the  chapter  on  Guilds  the  influence  of  those  organi- 
zations will  be  shown  to  enter  largely  into  the  internal 
trade  of  China,  and  in  this  connection  another  example 
will  be  pertinent.  There  is  usually  a  very  friendly  feel- 
ing between  the  members  of  a  guild  and  the  likin  officials. 
It  is  because  such  an  understanding  is  to  their  mutual 
interest.  This  may  be  exemplified  as  follows  :  the  city  of 
Soochow  is  about  seventy  miles  inland  from  the  open  port 


164  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

of  Shanghai ;  there  are  several  likin  stations  on  the  im- 
portant trade  route  between  these  two  cities,  and  the  piece- 
goods  guild  at  Shanghai  has  commuted  all  likin  charges  on 
piece-goods  to  Soochow  for  a  number  of  years.  This 
fact  is  mentioned  to  indicate  the  irregularity  in  collecting 
taxes  and  the  latitude  given  to  the  discretion  of  provin- 
cial officials.  The  central  government  and  not  the  pro- 
vincial official  suffers  for  such  bargains. 

As  a  rule  a  likin  regulation  provides  for  two  stations, 
one  the  departure,  and  the  other  the  inspection  station. 
The  duties  are  arranged  on  the  basis  of  a  three  per  cent 
levy  at  each  station  of  the  first  class,  and  of  a  one  and  a 
half  per  cent  levy  at  each  of  the  second  class.  That  is 
about  the  average  duty.  The  stations  are  so  arranged 
that  goods,  passing  along  any  of  the  recognized  lines  of 
tariff,  come  alternately  to  stations  of  each  kind,  beginning 
with  the  departure  station.  On  the  majority  of  routes 
there  are  four  stations,  two  of  each  kind,  but  on  some 
of  the  routes  the  last  inspection  station  is  omitted.  When 
there  are  more  than  four  stations  on  a  route  along  which 
goods  pass  in  any  province,  the  likin  charges  within  that 
province  do  not  exceed  ten  per  cent  on  the  assessed 
value.     All  local  industries  are  subject  to  the  likin  tax. 

The  revenue  derived  from  the  likin  tax  is  about  taels 
12,000,000.  This  is  the  sum  which  is  accounted  for  by 
those  interested  in  its  collection,  but  the  best  authorities 
on  the  subject  estimate  that  as  much  more  finds  its  way 
into  official  pockets.  Comment  is  unnecessary  to  show 
what  an  embarrassment  and  hindrance  such  a  system  of 
taxation  must  be  to  trade  in  general. 

Imagine  custom-house  officials  on  the  border  lines  of  all 
the  states  of  the  American  Union,  as  well  as  on  the  land 
and  water  routes  of  trade,  and  the  merchant's  goods 
stopped  and  appraised  for  duty  at  every  one  of  them  :  no 


TAXATION  166 

argument  is  necessary  to  demonstrate  how  easily  and  how 
quickly  the  external  and  internal  trade  of  the  United  States 
would  be  strangled  to  death.  Among  the  late  treaties  be- 
tween China  and  the  western  nations,  the  one  negotiated 
with  the  United  States  of  America  directly  provides  for 
the  abolition  of  the  likin  tax,  and  in  that  regard  is  the 
best  and  most  definite  on  the  vexatious  subject. 

Another  large  item  of  revenue  is  the  salt  tax,  and,  as  a 
further  illustration  of  the  principle  of  Chinese  taxation, 
an  example  of  how  this  tax  is  collected  will  be  of  interest. 

The  salt  industry  is  a  government  monopoly  which  is 
protected  by  treaty  against  the  importation  of  any  salt 
from  a  foreign  country. 

The  government  confines  its  sale  to  certain  circuits,  and 
these,  for  administrative  purposes,  number  seven.  The 
boundary  of  a  circuit  is  carefully  defined,  and  to  carry 
salt  from  one  circuit  to  another  is  expressly  prohibited. 
To  be  guilty  of  violating  the  prohibition  would  subject 
the  offender  to  punishment  and  the  salt  to  confiscation. 

The  general  system  of  production  and  cost  is  explained 
by  George  Jamieson  thus  :  "  The  salt  is  produced  in  cer- 
tain specific  districts  along  the  coast  by  evaporation  or 
boiling  from  sea-water,  or  it  is  obtained  from  brine  found 
in  wells  and  marshes  in  Szechuan  and  Shansi.  There  is 
no  restriction  in  the  quantity  or  mode  of  production,  but 
all  the  salt  produced  must  be  sold  either  to  government 
officials,  who  establish  depots  for  its  storage,  or  else  to 
licensed  salt  merchants  who  have  obtained  by  purchase 
the  right  to  acquire  certain  areas  of  consumption.  The 
cost  of  production  varies  greatly.  At  some  places, 
especially  around  the  coast,  where  a  supply  is  readily 
obtained  by  evaporation,  the  cost  is  very  small.  In  the 
province  of  Fukien,  for  instance,  at  Changchow  and 
Changtzin,  which  are  large   centres   of  production,  the 


166  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

cost  is  said  to  be  1^  to  2  cash  a  catty  (say  4id.  per  hun- 
dredweight). In  Chinkiang  it  costs  3  to  4  cash  a  catty, 
and  at  Taku,  in  the  province  of  Chili,  it  costs  from  1  to  2 
cash.  In  the  Huai  district  the  cost  appears  to  be  consider- 
ably more,  especially  that  portion  produced  by  boiling 
water,  which  is  of  better  quality.  Here  it  is  said  to 
cost  from  8  to  10  cash  (Is.  7c?.  per  hundredweight)." 

There  is  an  estimate  made  by  the  government  of  the 
quantity  of  salt  that  will  probably  be  annually  consumed 
in  each  circuit,  and  warrants  are  then  issued  to  cover  the 
whole  quantity.  These  warrants  may  be  used  from  year 
to  year,  and  may  then  be  handed  down  from  father  to  son, 
or  they  may  be  transferred  for  value.  A  warrant  has  sold 
for  as  much  as  taels  12,000. 

A  warrant  entitles  the  holder  to  buy  at  the  government 
stores  a  specific  quantity  of  salt.  The  quantity  is  not 
reckoned  by  the  picul,  but  by  a  measure  called  the  i/in, 
which  varies  a  good  deal  in  the  various  circuits.  In  Huai- 
nan  the  yin  represents  8  packages  of  86  catties  each,  with 
a  certain  allowance  for  waste  which  actually  makes  them 
weigh  94  catties.  Each  warrant  entitles  the  holder  to 
buy  500  2/m.  A  warrant  therefore  covers  94  x  8  x  500 
catties  (3.776  piculs). 

There  is  no  source  of  revenue  so  closely  supervised  as 
the  salt  tax.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  government  to  con- 
fine the  selling  of  this  product  to  government  officials 
exclusively,  and  it  is  intended  that  not  a  pound  shall  be 
sold  unless  the  purchase  money  passes  the  palm  of 
some  government  official.  But  this  is  not  always  the  case. 
The  salt  smugglers  of  China  are  many  and  keen,  and  a 
bribe  prudently  placed  may  often  close  an  official  eye. 

In  Chekiang,  on  the  sea-coast,  taxes  are  sometimes  paid 
in  salt  wedges,  which  vary  in  size  and  are  weighed  by  the 
tax  collector. 


TAXATION  167 

The  revenue  derived  from  the  salt  tax  amounts  in 
round  numbers  to  taels  13,000,000,  which  in  India  is 
taels  33,000,000 ;  but  this  sum  would  no  doubt  be  much 
larger  if  in  practice  the  government  monopoly  were  so 
enforced  as  to  accord  with  the  theory  upon  which  the 
administration  is  supposed  to  be  based. 

It  is  from  the  sources  indicated,  including  among  these 
native  customs,  that  China  derives  her  principal  revenue ; 
and  the  system  of  collecting  and  accounting  for  it  has  very 
justly  excited  the  indignation  of  the  inspector-general. 
This  is  not  surprising  when  the  foreign  customs  col- 
lectorate,  over  which  Sir  Robert  Hart  presides,  collects 
and  pays  into  the  treasury  of  China  a  larger  amount  of 
revenue  than  is  paid  in  from  any  other  source.  The 
theory  on  which  is  based  the  internal  taxation  of  China, 
and  the  number  of  subjects  taxed  by  the  government,  in 
conjunction  with  the  smallness  of  the  income  of  the 
Empire,  would  prove  a  good  deal  of  leakage  somewhere. 

China  is  at  this  writing  embarrassed  by  the  want  of 
a  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  domestic  and  foreign  obliga- 
tions. Her  officers  are  poorly  paid,  and  thus  tempted  to 
rob  their  own  government.  The  selling  of  official  places 
at  the  capital  and  in  the  provinces  has  long  been  a  custom. 
At  the  port  of  Shanghai  the  salary  of  a  taotai  does  not 
exceed  taels  3000 ;  and  yet  it  is  reported  that  an  incum- 
bent has  paid  for  the  office  more  than  taels  100,000,  when 
the  term  of  it  is  three  years  only 

The  central  government,  although  it  may  levy  taxes 
with  an  even  hand,  cannot  adopt  a  surer  policy  to  remove 
the  dishonesty  in  the  collection  of  these  taxes  than  to 
follow  the  advice  of  men  like  Sir  Robert  Hart,  who  has 
given  a  lifetime  of  loyalty  to  the  real  interest  of  China. 

I  have  consulted  the  highest  authorities  on  China  and 
her  affairs,  and  not  one  undertakes  to  give  accurate  infor- 


168  CHINA   IN    LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

mation  as  to  the  amount  of  the  taxes  actually  collected 
from  the  people.  The  same  uncertainty  exists  with  regard 
to  the  actual  expenses  of  the  Chinese  government.  No 
one  seems  to  know  what  should  be  accounted  for  and  how 
much  should  be  expended.  There  appears  nothing  cer- 
tain and  prompt  in  connection  with  taxation  in  China, 
except  the  date  for  the  taxpayer  to  pay  and  the  presence 
of  the  tax  collector  to  receive  payment. 

The  enigma  grows  when  one  undertakes  to  explain  how 
a  government  like  that  of  China,  embracing  such  an  im- 
mense area  of  territory  and  so  large  a  population,  has 
survived  domestic  dissensions  and  foreign  wars,  and  is 
to-day  substantially  intact  against  the  searching  and 
potent  influences  of  western  civilization. 

The  Empire  is  moving  along  in  the  same  paths  of 
polity  as  when  it  began  its  journey  more  than  four  thou- 
sand years  ago.  Its  gates  have  been  battered  down,  but 
the  conqueror  has  entered  only  to  be  absorbed  by  the  con- 
quered. China  has  witnessed  the  birth,  the  greatness, 
and  the  downfall  of  the  most  powerful  republics  and 
empires  that  have  existed  in  the  past.  She  furnished 
silk  for  the  daughters  of  Roman  senators,  but  Rome  has 
long  since  passed  into  history,  while  an  edict  of  the 
Dowager  Empress  is  to-day  obeyed  by  four  hundred  mill- 
ions of  subjects.  The  life  of  China  is  the  longest  among 
empires,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  she 
commands  more  the  attention  of  the  world  than  she  did  at 
any  other  period  of  her  history,  a  fact  which  cannot  be 
solely  due  to  her  colossal  physical  proportions.  There 
must  be  something  in  her  organic  structure  which  has 
enabled  her  to  stand  firm  amidst  the  crash  of  surround- 
ing empires.  True,  she  has  no  religion  in  a  western  sense, 
but  she  has  a  code  of  ethics  which  is  the  creed  of  her  peo- 
ple, the  basis  of   her  laws,  and  the  shrine  before  which 


TAXATION  169 

the  largest  number  kneel.  The  government  is  both 
despotic  and  democratic.  The  Emperor  does  as  he  pleases, 
and  his  subjects  do  about  as  they  please.  Both  are  per- 
fectly satisfied  and  wish  to  be  let  alone,  and  are  willing 
to  let  all  others  alone.     There  is  but  one  China. 

The  foregoing  may  be  supplemented  by  a  quotation 
from  E.  H.  Parker's  "  China  "  :  — 

"  Things  would  not  be  so  very  bad,  in  spite  of  parlous 
times,  if  all  the  receipts  were  paid,  in  one  currency,  into 
one  central  chest  or  account  (as  the  foreign  customs  receipts 
are),  and  if  all  payments  were  drawn  in  one  currency  from 
this  one  chest  and  remitted  in  one  way.  But,  in  the  first 
place,  all  provinces  have  two  main  currencies  of  pure  silver 
(several  '  touches ')  and  copper  cash  (several  qualities),  the 
relation  between  which  two  differs  in  each  town  every  day. 
Besides  this,  each  province  has  its  own  '  touch '  and 
'  weight '  of  a  silver  ounce  ;  and  some  provinces  use 
dollars,  chopped  and  unchopped,  by  weight  or  by  piece, 
as  well  as  pure  silver ;  and  the  dollar  exchange  varies  daily 
locally  and  centrally  in  regard  to  both  copper  cash  and 
silver.  Even  this  difficulty,  which  involves  an  enormous 
waste  of  time  and  energy,  and  opens  the  door  to  innumer- 
able and  inscrutable  'squeezes,'  might  be  philosophically 
ignored  if  receipts  and  disbursements  were  lumped  in  one 
account,  —  if  the  venous  blood  were  allowed  a  free  course 
to  the  heart,  and  the  arterial  blood  a  clean  run  back  to 
the  extremities.  But  the  Board  of  Revenue,  which  is  as 
corrupt  and  conservative  as  the  provinces,  goes  about  its 
business  in  a  very  hand-to-mouth,  rough-and-tumble  sort 
of  way.  .  .  .  Then  each  viceroy  or  governor  disputes 
every  new  demand,  and  it  is  quite  understood  that  some  ap- 
propriations are  intended  to  be  more  serious  than  others. 
Some  simpleton  of  an  honest  man  from  time  to  time  throws 
everything  out  of  gear  by  allowing  a  truth  to  escape :  the 


170  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

board  never  lets  a  'flat'  of  this  sort  score  in  fact,  even 
though  he  appear  to  do  so  in  principle.  A  governor  cannot 
be  expected  to  show  zeal  for  Yunnan  copper  when  he  knows 
that  the  high  officer  in  special  charge  is  making  a  fortune 
out  of  it.  .  .  .  There  are  many  other  absurd  results  of  this 
rule-of -thumb  system.  Province  A  receives  subsidies  from 
province  B,  but,  itself  owing  others  to  province  C,  pays  B 
on  behalf  of  C.  Thus  there  are  two  freights  to  pay,  and 
two  losses  on  exchange.  Sometimes  A  may  be  directed 
even  to  pay  a  subsidy  to  a  province  B,  which  already  pays 
one  to  province  A.  Funds  which  might  easily  be  sent  by 
draft  are  usually  despatched  in  hoUowed-out  logs  of  wood, 
with  a  guard  of  soldiers  as  escort,  accompanied  by  carts, 
fighting  'bullies,'  and  a  commissioned  officer.  Even 
when  sent  by  draft,  there  is  a  charge  of  two  or  three  per 
cent  for  remitting,  and  a  commissioned  officer  is  sent  to 
carry  the  draft.  ...  It  is  pathetic  to  read  the  account  of 
hundreds  of  coolies  trotting  all  the  way  to  Shanghai  from 
Shansi  with  heavy  logs  of  wood  containing  silver  where- 
with to  repay  the  interest  on  European  loans.  The  extraor- 
dinary care  and  punctuality  exacted  in  matters  of  form, 
duty,  or  national  honour  are  only  equalled  by  the  shameless 
peculation  and  callous  waste  of  time  and  money  which 
prevail  in  personal  matters  connected  with  the  perform- 
ance of  the  same  public  duty.  Officers  of  high  rank, 
who  are  known  to  make  30,000  or  40,000  taels  a  year 
'  out  of  their  posts,  gravely  work  out  their  balances  to 
the  thousand-millionth  part  of  an  ounce,  forgetting  that 
(even  if  the  clerk's  salary  were  only  sixpence  a  day)  the 
time  occupied  in  counting  and  subtracting  each  line  of 
figures  would  cover,  ten  thousand  times  over,  the  clerk's 
salary  rate  per  minute.  In  a  word,  the  whole  Chinese 
financial  system  is  rotten  to  the  core,  childish  and  in- 
competent, and  should  be  swept  away  root  and  branch. 


TAXATION  171 

Until  there  is  a  fixed  currency,  a  European  accountancy 
in  all  departments,  and  a  system  of  definite  sufficient 
salaries,  all  reform  is  hopeless  to  look  for." 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  system  of  taxation  which 
China  now  enforces  is  about  the  same  which  has  been  in 
force  during  centuries  of  the  Empire's  life,  and  that  she 
still  refuses  to  change  it.  Japan  at  one  time  received  a 
new  and  better  civilization  from  China  than  that  which 
existed  in  the  Island  Empire  ;  but  Japan  has  responded  to 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  age  by  throwing  off  the 
influence  of  China  and  utilizing  such  western  manners  and 
customs  as  suit  her  condition ;  and  no  nation  has  ever  shown 
the  discriminating  tact  and  judgment  of  the  Japanese  in 
adopting  what  was  most  needed  to  elevate  and  strengthen. 

In  early  times  the  system  of  taxation  adopted  in  Japan 
was  similar  to  the  system  still  adhered  to  by  China  ;  but 
the  latter  Empire  will  not,  like  the  former,  recognize  that 
national  existence  demands  a  change.  As  a  matter  of 
historical  interest  and  as  an  indication  of  the  power  of 
the  Japanese  long  ago  to  bear  fiscal  burdens,  I  offer  the 
following  from  Captain  F.  Brinkley's  history  of  Japan 
and  China,  a  recent  book  in  which  the  author  shows  a 
strong  and  clear  grasp  of  his  subjects  and  presents  them 
in  the  most  pleasing  style  :  *'  The  system  of  taxation 
adopted  in  Japan  in  early  times  and  the  changes  it  under- 
went from  age  to  age  are  interesting,  not  merely  from  a 
historical  point  of  view,  but  also  and  chiefly  as  furnishing 
an  index  of  the  people's  capacity  to  bear  fiscal  burdens. 
It  is  a  somewhat  obscure  subject,  though  not  so  difficult 
to  understand  as  the  confusing  attempts  hitherto  made 
to  elucidate  it  would  imply. 

"  Land  measure  seems  to  have  been  based  at  the  outset 
on  a  very  practical  consideration.  The  area  required  to 
grow  sufficient  rice  for  an  adult  male's  daily  consumption 


172  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

—  in  other  words,  a  man's  ration  —  was  taken  as  the  unit. 
A  square  whose  side  measured  two  paces,  or  six  feet,  being 
considered  the  area  adequate  for  that  purpose,  received 
the  name  of  Ao,  afterward  changed  to  tsubo.  This  unit 
of  superficial  measure  remains  unchanged  until  the  present 
day.  There  being  three  hundred  and  sixty  days  in  the 
year  according  to  the  old  calendar  —  twelve  months  of 
thirty  days  each  —  a  space  measuring  three  hundred  and 
sixty  tsubo,  and  producing  a  year's  rations,  naturally  sug- 
gested itself  as  another  fundamental  area,  the  term  tan 
being  applied  to  it.  For  the  rest,  the  decimal  system 
was  adopted :  one-tenth  of  a  tan  being  called  se,  and  ten 
tan  a  cho. 

"Thus  far  as  to  superficial  measurement.  The  next 
question  is  the  grain  grown  on  a  given  area.  The  basis 
in  this  case  was  the  quantity  of  rice  (on  the  stalk)  that 
could  be  grasped  in  one  hand.  This  was  called  nigiri. 
Three  handfuls  made  a  bundle  (ha'),  twelve  bundles  a 
sheaf  (soku),  and  fifty  sheaves  were  regarded  as  the  prod- 
uce of  the  tan.  In  the  earliest  references  to  taxation 
the  '  sheaf  '  is  invariably  mentioned.  The  unit  of  capac- 
ity was  a  wooden  box  (called  masu),  capable  of  holding 
exactly  one-tenth  of  the  grain  obtained  from  a  sheaf,  that 
is  to  say,  the  hulled  grain.  Naturally  a  more  definite 
system  ultimately  replaced  these  empirical  methods.  At 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  under  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Taiko,  the  measure  of  capacity  was  exactly 
fixed,  and  its  volume  was  called  to,  ten  to  (i.e.  a  sheaf  of 
grain)  being  called  a  Jcoku  (3.13  bushels),  while  one-tenth 
of  a  to  received  the  name  of  sho,  and  one-tenth  of  a  sho 
that  of  ffo.  There  were  wooden  measures  having  the 
capacity  of  a  sho  and  a  go  as  well  as  that  of  a  to. 

"  The  oldest  historical  record  of  land  taxation  shows  that 
the  tax  levied  on  each  tan  of  land,  in  the  seventh  century, 


TAXATION  173 

was  a  sheaf  and  a  half  of  hulled  rice ;  and  since  the  average 
produce  of  the  tan  was  twenty-five  sheaves,  this  repre- 
sented only  six  per  cent  of  the  yield.  Thenceforth  the 
tendency  was  steadily  in  the  direction  of  increase.  In  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century  land  was  divided  into  four 
grades  for  fiscal  purposes :  the  levy  on  the  first  grade  being 
five  sheaves  per  tan  (hulled  grain  must  always  be  under- 
stood) ;  that  on  the  second,  four  sheaves ;  that  on  the  third, 
three  sheaves ;  and  that  on  the  fourth,  one  and  a  half 
sheaves.  This  was  called  a  tax  of  one-fifth,  or  twenty  per 
cent,  the  produce  of  the  best  land  being  then  estimated  at 
twenty-five  sheaves.  In  fact,  the  tax  was  nearly  three 
and  a  half  times  greater  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Saga 
(810-82-3)  than  it  had  been  in  that  of  the  Emperor  Kotoku 
(645-654).  In  the  twelfth  century  the  tax  had  become 
twenty-five  per  cent,  and  there  was  a  further  levy  of  ten  per 
cent  of  the  remaining  grain,  one-third  of  this  extra  impost 
being  destined  for  the  support  of  the  governors  in  the 
provinces.  Hence,  at  that  time,  the  total  grain  tax  on  the 
land  was  thirty-two  and  a  half  per  cent  of  the  gross  produce, 
—  the  central  government  taking  thirty  per  cent,  and  the 
local  government  two  and  a  half  per  cent. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  grain  crops  alone  were 
taxed,  other  produce  escaping.  In  addition  to  the  levy  of 
grain,  people  had  to  pay  ckobutsu  (prepared  articles),  as 
silk  fabrics,  pongee,  and  cotton  cloth.  These  were  assessed 
at  the  rate  of  one  piece  of  silk  fabric,  three  pieces  of  pongee, 
and  four  pieces  of  cotton  per  eho  of  land  (the  piece  in 
every  case  being  ten  feet  long  and  two  and  a  half  feet 
wide).  Each  of  these  imposts  represented  a  monetary 
value  of  from  thirty  to  forty  momme.  There  was  also  a 
house  tax  (Jcobetsu),  which  took  the  form  of  a  twelve-foot 
piece  of  cotton  cloth  per  house,  or  six  pieces  of  ten  feet 
per  cho  of  land,  and,  finally,  the  farmer  had  to  pay  '  sub- 


174  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ordinate  produce  '  Qfuku-sanhutsu)  to  the  value  of  thirty 
momme  per  cho.  All  these  imposts  '  of  prepared  articles ' 
aggregated  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  momme,  or  three 
ryo  per  cho;  and  since  the  price  of  hulled  rice  was  two 
and  a  half  koku  per  rt/o,  and  the  grain  tax  was  six  and 
a  half  koku  per  cho,  it  would  seem  that  the  total  imposts 
levied  on  each  cho  of  land  were  fourteen  koku.  The  aver- 
age produce  of  rice  per  cho  was  reckoned  in  those  days 
at  twenty  koku,  and  thus  it  appears  that  seventy  per  cent 
of  the  produce  was  taken  by  the  tax  collector.  The  people 
were  further  required  to  provide  weapons  of  war,  and  had 
to  perform  forced  labour.  The  saying  current  in  that  era 
—  from  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  to  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth — was  that  the  government  took  seven-tenths  of 
the  produce  of  the  land  and  left  to  the  people  only  three- 
tenths. 

"It  has  to  be  remembered  in  this  context  that,  in  addition 
to  the  taxes  enumerated  above,  every  male  between  the 
ages  of  twenty-one  and  sixty-six  was  liable  for  thirty  days' 
forced  labour  annually,  and  every  minor  for  fifteen  days', 
which  corvSe  could  be  commuted  by  paying  three  pieces  of 
cotton  cloth,  equivalent  in  value  to  about  a  koku  of  rice." 

From  what  has  been  written  in  this  chapter  the  conclu- 
sion is  quite  clear  that  there  is  in  China  a  wide  difference 
between  the  theory  and  the  practice  of  taxation.  In  theory 
the  government  is  influenced  by  the  principles  of  equity, 
but  in  practice  those  principles  are  set  at  defiance  by  the 
provincial  officials.  Such  a  system  has  prevailed  for 
centuries,  and  will  continue  to  prevail  until  the  present 
generation  of  Chinese  passes  away.  There  may  be  hope 
in  the  younger  generation,  and  especially  in  the  young 
men  now  being  educated  abroad  or  in  the  schools  con- 
ducted in  China  under  foreign  supervision.  In  Japan  the 
spirit  of  the  age  does  not  appear  to  confine  itself  to  an}"- 


TAXATION  175 

particular  class  of  the  population,  but  rather  to  per- 
meate all  classes;  and  it  is  due  to  this  fact  that  Japan 
has  deservedly  won  for  herself  a  place  in  the  international 
council  of  nations.  The  dense  conservatism  of  the  rulers 
of  China  invited  foreign  aggression,  and  there  will  be  no 
new  life  for  the  Empire  until  it  is  thrown  off. 

There  must  be  a  reformation  of  the  financial  system  of 
China,  and  such  reformation  is  as  much  needed  at  Peking 
as  it  is  in  the  provinces.  The  central  government  must 
have  the  laws  executed  as  well  in  practice  as  in  spirit 
and  meaning.  It  is  no  excuse  to  say  that  the  laws  are 
good  when  the  answer  can  be  returned  that  they  are 
corruptly  executed. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COURTS 

When  the  courts  of  western  nations  began  to  base  their 
judgments  on  cases  recorded,  the  law  which  they  admin- 
istered became  written  law.  It  was  written  case  law,  and 
differed  only  from  code  law  because  it  was  written  in  a 
different  style. 

In  China  the  law  makes  it  a  penal  offence  for  a  magis- 
trate or  a  judge  to  disregard  recorded  cases.  It  is  the 
duty  of  such  officers  to  examine  carefully  the  cases  that 
have  been  previously  decided,  and  to  render  judgment 
accordingly  in  the  cases  under  their  investigation. 

If  there  be  no  recorded  cases  or  statutes  applicable,  then 
those  which  approach  most  nearly  to  the  cases  under  in- 
vestigation shall  guide  in  determining  the  judgment  to  be 
rendered. 

In  the  judiciary  of  no  country  does  the  judgment  of  a 
competent  court,  rendered  after  due  consideration  of  all 
the  facts  and  circumstances,  establish  a  precedent  of 
greater  binding  force  in  determining  the  investigation  of 
subsequent  cases  than  in  the  judiciary  of  China. 

What  has  once  been  regularly  done  is  the  tyrant  with 
absolute  power  to  command  what  shall  thereafter  be 
done.  China  needs  a  few  original  jurists  like  Mansfield 
or  Marshall,  to  mark  out  new  ways ;  but  in  the  present  state 
of  Chinese  society  such  pioneers  would  very  probably  get 
their  heads  cut  off. 

176 


COURTS  177 

Another  principle  of  Chinese  jurisprudence  is  that  no 
person  may  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands.  This  prin- 
ciple, however,  does  not  deny  the  right  of  self-defence,  but 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  right  may  be  exercised 
must  make  plain  its  necessity. 

To  prevent  commission  of  a  crime,  Chinese  law  provides 
a  broader  remedy  even  than  English  law.  Usually  in 
English  law,  on  suspicion  that  a  person  is  about  to  com- 
mit an  offence,  an  affidavit  setting  forth  the  facts  is  made 
before  a  competent  judicial  officer,  whereupon  a  warrant 
is  issued  for  his  arrest.  After  being  arraigned,  if  the  sus- 
picions are  proved,  the  accused  may  be  required  to  enter 
into  a  bond  for  his  good  behaviour.  There  is  named  in  the 
bond  a  penal  sum  in  money,  and  the  bond  should  be  signed 
by  the  suspected  person  and  sureties  satisfactory  to  the 
court.  But  in  China,  whenever  a  magistrate  may  think 
it  desirable,  he  can  require  suspicious  characters  to  give 
security  in  the  form  of  a  bond,  though  no  penal  sum  in 
money  is  named  in  it.  After  the  bond  with  sureties  is 
given,  the  magistrate  has  the  further  power  to  compel  the 
family  and  relatives  and  neighbours  of  the  person  sus- 
pected to  become  responsible  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  these, 
if  there  be  occasion,  to  deliver  their  principal  to  the  court, 
or  else  they  become  accessories  to  the  offence  committed 
and  may  be  punished  as  accessories.  If  there  should  be  no 
bond,  the  same  duty  to  give  information,  under  a  like 
penalty,  attaches  to  the  relatives,  the  family,  the  neigh- 
bours, and  the  head-man  of  the  village  or  town.  Here, 
again,  appears  the  doctrine  of  mutual  responsibility  which 
spreads  through  every  branch  of  the  jurisprudence  of 
China. 

There  is  a  regular  gradation  of  courts  in  China,  and  a 
suitor  may  begin  in  the  lowest  and  proceed  to  the  highest. 
There  is  the  district,  the  department,  the  circuit,  and  the 


178  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

province.  In  each  of  these  territorial  divisions  of  the  ad- 
ministrative system  there  is  a  court  whose  jurisdiction 
and  powers  are  defined.  From  the  supreme  provincial 
court  a  case  may  proceed  to  the  judiciary  board  at  Peking 
for  revision,  and  thence  to  the  Emperor. 

If  a  subject  or  soldier  of  the  Empire  has  a  complaint  to 
make,  or  information  to  lay,  he  must  make  it  before  the 
lowest  tribunal  of  justice  within  the  district  to  which  he 
belongs,  from  which  the  cognizance  of  the  subject  may  be 
transferred  to  the  superior  tribunals  in  regular  gradation. 
If,  instead  of  addressing  himself  to  the  proper  magistrate 
within  his  district,  the  complaint  or  information  is  ad- 
dressed to  a  superior  tribunal,  the  punishment  is  fifty 
blows,  even  though  the  complaint  should  be  just  and  the  in- 
formation correct.  But  if  the  inferior  tribunal  refuses  to 
receive  the  complaint  or  information,  it  is  then  lawful  to 
appeal  to  a  superior  tribunal. 

And  "  in  general,  every  magistrate  and  tribunal  shall, 
conformably  to  the  extent  of  their  powers  and  jurisdiction, 
not  only  receive  and  undertake  to  investigate,  but  also 
bring  to  a  final  issue  and  adjudication  each  of  the  several 
criminal  causes  and  questions  on  official  business  that  law- 
fully come  before  them ;  and  whenever  they,  on  the  con- 
trary, depute  or  instruct  other  magistrates  to  continue 
any  such  investigations  in  their  place  or  stead,  the  magis- 
trates and  members  of  tribunals  so  offending  shall  be  liable 
to  punishment."  (Code.)  To  prefer  an  anonymous  com- 
plaint, one  which  does  not  contain  the  genuine  name  and 
address  of  the  complainant,  renders  the  offender  liable  to 
punishment  by  strangulation,  and  the  punishment  may  be 
inflicted  whether  the  allegations  in  the  complaint  are  true 
or  false. 

When  the  complaint  has  been  addressed  to  the  proper 
judicial  officer,  and  the  court  is  sitting  to  hear  it,  there 


179 

are  three  considerations  which  first  present  themselves. 
The  first  is,  What  are  the  facts  ?  To  ascertain  the  facts  is 
necessary  in  order  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  offence  or 
fix  the  character  of  the  action.  Then  the  court  will  inquire 
into  all  the  circumstances,  and  these,  in  connection  with 
the  facts,  will  guide  to  any  recorded  case  or  statute 
applicable,  and  will  serve  to  bring  the  case  before  the 
court  under  a  former  decision  or  a  provision  of  a  statute. 
After  the  facts  and  circumstances  have  been  accurately 
ascertained,  the  court  further  considers  the  relative  posi- 
tion of  the  parties  to  the  suit.  This  last  consideration  is 
necessary  in  order  that  a  suitable  sentence  may  be  imposed 
or  a  proper  judgment  rendered. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  proceedings  of  a 
Chinese  court  are  behind  closed  doors.  Any  one  who 
feels  so  inclined  is,  it  appears,  fully  privileged  to  attend. 
The  trial  and  the  punishment  are  as  open  as  in  any 
country  in  the  world,  and  it  could  not  probably  be 
otherwise  without  danger  of  a  revolution.  Nor  has  a 
Chinese  judicial  officer  the  right  to  give  undue  latitude  to 
examinations  before  him.  The  accused  can  demand  that 
the  questions  propounded  to  the  witnesses  shall  be  strictly 
confined  to  the  subject  of  the  complaint  or  information 
against  him,  and  any  inquiry  into  matters  irrelevant 
thereto  renders  the  presiding  officer  liable  to  punishment. 
But  a  case  is  not  decided  by  the  weight  of  evidence.  It 
is  closely  scrutinized,  and  the  judge  decides  according 
to  his  conviction.  Statements  are  not  simply  accepted, 
although  direct.  The  surrounding  circumstances  must  be 
clear  as  well. 

Torture  is  provided  for  in  the  Code,  and  may  be  em- 
ployed against  accused  persons  and  witnesses  when  they 
prove  unduly  obstinate.  But  the  employment  of  torture 
in  any  way  by  an  underling  is  severely  punished.      The 


180  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMEECE 

tribunal  that  orders  the  application  must  be  regular  in  its 
constitution,  and  the  accused  or  witnesses  should  be  prop- 
erly before  it.  Those  who  have  attained  their  seventieth 
year,  and  those  who  have  not  exceeded  their  fifteenth  year, 
are  exempt  from  being  "put  to  the  question."  There  is 
also  an  exception  in  favour  of  those  who  belong  to  the 
eight  privileged  classes. 

According  to  the  Code,  a  prisoner  is  given  the  opportu- 
nity to  plead  after  trial  and  conviction.  The  proceeding 
is,  that  the  prisoner  and  his  family  and  nearest  relations 
are  brought  into  court  and  informed  of  the  offence 
whereof  he  stands  convicted,  and  of  the  sentence  to  be 
pronounced  upon  him  in  consequence.  If  they  acknow- 
ledge its  justice,  or  protest  against  its  injustice,  the 
acknowledgment  or  protest  is  written  down.  In  every 
case  of  a  protest  it  shall  be  made  the  ground  of  another 
and  more  particular  investigation  by  the  court,  and  the 
refusal  to  receive  the  protest  and  to  investigate  the  case 
anew  subjects  the  delinquent  officer  to  punishment. 

It  has  been  stated  that  cases  under  investigation  must 
be  determined  according  to  existing  laws ;  but  it  is  im- 
practicable to  provide  for  every  possible  contingency,  and 
when  there  are  no  laws  or  statutes  precisely  applicable, 
the  case  may  then  be  determined  by  an  accurate  com- 
parison with  .others  which  are  already  provided  for  and 
which  approach  most  nearly  to  that  under  investigation. 
But  a  sentence  which  has  been  passed  in  accordance  with 
laws  which  approach  most  nearly,  but  do  not  exactly  fit, 
shall  be  laid  before  a  superior  judicial  officer  for  approval, 
and  so  on  to  the  Emperor  for  final  decision.  Any  errone- 
ous judgment  which  may  be  pronounced,  in  consequence 
of  adopting  a  more  summary  mode  of  proceeding  in  cases 
of  a  doubtful  nature,  shall  be  punished  as  a  wilful  devia- 
tion from  justice. 


COURTS  181 

If  a  law  is  to  become  fuudamental,  it  usually  takes 
effect  and  is  in  full  force  from  the  day  on  which  it  is 
published;  and  every  transaction  shall  be  adjudged  ac- 
cording to  the  most  recent  law,  although  the  transaction 
should  have  occurred  previous  to  the  promulgation  of  that 
law.  An  occasional  statute,  however,  which  is  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  law,  does  not  operate  in  cases  which  were  ante- 
cedent to  its  enactment.  If  any  period  of  days  or  years  is 
assigned  for  the  commencement  of  the  operation  of  a 
statute,  the  period  shall  be  strictly  observed,  except  when 
the  statute  provides  for  the  mitigation  of  ordinary  punish- 
ments, and  then  it  shall  be  construed  to  be  immediately  in 
force.  There  is  no  excuse  for  the  wrongful  application  of  a 
law.  All  officers  and  others  in  the  employ  of  the  govern- 
ment are  enjoined  to  make  themselves  perfect  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws,  so  as  to  be  able  to  explain  their  meaning 
and  intent,  and  to  superintend  and  insure  their  execution. 
And  fraudulently  to  pervert  or  misconstrue,  or  presumptu- 
ously change,  abrogate,  or  confound  the  law  upon  any 
case  so  as  to  produce  disturbance  or  insurrection  in  the 
country,  renders  the  offender  liable  to  punishment  by 
being  beheaded. 

As  above  indicated,  a  sentence  must  be  in  accordance 
with  the  latest  law  applicable  and  shall  be  pronounced  in 
open  court,  and  the  privilege  of  appeal  shall  not  be  denied. 
The  sentence  must  be  correctly  recorded  in  regular  order. 
It  shall  also  be  executed  within  the  prescribed  time  and  in 
accordance  with  its  character  or  nature. 

During  the  time  a  prisoner  is  confined  the  Code  pro- 
vides that  he  "shall  not  suffer  unusual  hardships,  but 
that  his  necessary  wants  shall  be  looked  after.  When  ill, 
he  shall  be  provided  with  suitable  medicine  and  such 
physical  relief  as  his  condition  requires." 

The  above  provision  of  the  Code  would  seem  to  rob 


182  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

prison  life  in  China  of  much  of  its  reputed  hardship ;  but 
in  practice  there  is  no  dungeon  darker  or  more  loathsome 
than  a  Chinese,  neither  is  there  one  whose  door  opens  more 
readily  when  the  inmate  or  his  friends  have  money. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  Wu  Tai  history,  927  a.d.,  that 
Si-tung  petitioned  to  the  Emperor,  in  behalf  of  prisoners 
who  were  in  confinement,  that  he  would  order  a  judge  to 
be  sent  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  such  confinement 
by  carefully  examining  the  charges  and  evidence  against 
them  in  order  that  justice  might  be  done.  The  Emperor 
issued  an  edict  according  to  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner. 
In  principle  this  edict  would  seem  to  have  been  intended 
to  answer  the  ends  of  a  habeas  corpus  under  English  law, 
with  this  difference,  that  under  the  edict  the  judge  goes 
to  the  prisoner  and  investigates  the  cause  of  his  detention, 
while  under  English  law  the  prisoner  sues  out  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  and  is  brought  before  the  judge,  who 
decides  upon  the  evidence  adduced  whether  or  not  he 
should  be  released.  The  above  edict  was  called  to  my 
attention  by  Dr.  J.  Edkins,  whose  writings  on  China  have 
long  since  established  his  reputation  as  a  thorough  scholar 
and  a  reliable  authority. 

The  right  of  petition  is  guaranteed  to  every  subject  of 
China.  The  Code  is  explicit  that  when  a  subject  desires 
to  petition  to  the  Emperor  he  shall  have  the  privilege,  and 
for  an  official  of  the  Empire  to  attempt  to  deny  or  prevent 
it  is  a  penal  offence  severely  punishable. 

The  judiciary  board  at  Peking  is  not  a  perfunctory 
tribunal.  Its  duties  are  most  important,  and  when  per- 
formed as  the  spirit  of  the  law  intends  that  they  should 
be,  a  feeling  of  security  and  confidence  goes  out  from  the 
capital  to  the  provinces.  The  definite  duties  and  wide 
powers  of  this  board  stand  immediately  interposed  between 
the  high  provincial  officials  and  the  Emperor.     The  exer- 


COURTS  183 

cise  by  a  governor  or  viceroy  of  the  judicial  functions  is 
reviewed  by  the  board,  and  is  reported  upon  to  the 
Emperor  as  approved  or  disapproved,  as  the  board  may 
think  proper. 

"  Whenever  the  tribunals  of  justice  in  the  provinces  or 
in  the  capital  have  occasion  to  take  cognizance  of  a  case 
of  false  judgment,  an  accurate  and  faithful  report  of  the 
circumstances  thereof,  and  of  the  extent  of  the  injustice 
alleged,  shall  be  laid  before  the  Emperor."     (Code.) 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  collection  of  Chinese 
law  reports  dealing  with  the  trial,  revisal  of  proceedings, 
and  final  sentence  upon  a  case  of  a  master  charged  with 
the  murder  of  his  servant. 

The  case,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  sub-viceroy 
of  Kiangsi,  was  as  follows  :  — 

"  Lieu-hoey-kuey  hired  the  services  of  Pan-kiun-ting,  a 
slave  of  government,  for  a  period  of  ten  years.  It  hap- 
pened that  on  the  ninth  of  the  first  moon  of  the  forty -fifth 
year  of  Kien-lung,  Lieu-she,  a  married  sister  of  Lieu-hoey- 
kuey,  came  home  to  visit  her  father,  Lieu-kuen-fung,  and 
her  mother,  Chang-she ;  and  one  day,  it  being  cold  weather, 
her  father  sent  her  into  the  chamber  of  the  servant,  Pan- 
kiun-ting,  to  fetch  fire-wood.  Pan-kiun-ting,  being  at 
the  time  intoxicated,  laid  hold  of  her  clothes,  and  en- 
deavoured to  prevail  on  her  to  lie  with  him.  Lieu-she 
resisted,  but  finding  herself  unable  to  escape  him,  cried 
out,  and  was  heard  by  her  mother,  Chang-she,  who  imme- 
diately came  to  her  assistance,  upon  which  the  slave, 
Pan-kiun-ting,  relinquished  his  hold,  and  was  struck  twice 
by  the  mother,  Chang-she.  Pan-kiun-ting,  fearing  pun- 
ishment, soon  after  ran  away  from  the  house,  and  took 
away  with  him  some  bread  and  120  lee  (about  ninepence) 
in  money. 

"  Lieu-she,  having  complained  to  her  brother  of  the 


184  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

attempt  of  the  slave,  and  having  likewise  solicited  him  to 
lay  an  information  before  a  magistrate  in  order  to  have 
the  offender  punished,  returned  the  next  day  to  her  own 
home  and  imparted  the  circumstance  to  her  husband, 
Puon-kiun-ye.  As  it  was  a  disgraceful  affair,  he  merely 
endeavoured  to  console  her,  and  took  no  further  notice 
of  the  circumstance  until  the  fourteenth  of  the  second 
moon,  when  the  absconded  slave,  Pan-kiun-ting,  being  un- 
able to  gain  a  livelihood  elsewhere,  returned  to  his  master, 
Lieu-hoey-kuey,  acknowledging  himself  guilty.  Lieu- 
hoey-kuey  did  not,  however,  take  any  steps  in  consequence 
until  the  next  day,  when  his  father,  Lieu-kuen-fung,  or- 
dered him  to  bind  the  offending  slave,  and  carry  him  to  a 
magistrate  that  he  might  be  punished.  Lieu-hoey-kuey, 
fearing  that  one  or  two  persons  might  not  be  sufficient  to 
accomplish  the  object,  sent  his  servant,  Lieu-tsing-ta,  the 
same  evening  to  his  sister's  husband,  Puon-kiun-ye,  beg- 
ging him  to  come  immediately  and  give  his  counsel  and 
assistance. 

"  Puon-kiun-ye  having  arrived,  and  the  slave,  Pan-kiun- 
ting,  being  again  intoxicated  and  asleep,  Lieu-hoey-kuey 
took  a  bamboo  cord,  and,  accompanied  by  his  brother-in- 
law,  Puon-kiun-ye,  and  his  servant,  Lieu-tsing-ta,  went  into 
the  chamber  of  Pan-kiun-ting  before  the  lamp  was  extin- 
guished. When  he  began  to  tie  the  cord  in  a  knot  about 
the  neck  of  Pan-kiun-ting,  the  latter  awoke,  and,  discover- 
ing their  intention,  endeavoured  to  rise  from  the  bed. 
Upon  this,  Lieu-hoey-kuey  desired  Lieu-tsing-ta  to  hold 
him  down  by  the  head  and  Puon-kiun-ye  by  the  feet,  while 
he  proceeded  himself  to  tie  his  hands.  At  this  time  Pan- 
kiun-ting,  whose  body  was  uncovered  (he  having  previously 
taken  off  his  clothes),  turned  about  and  kicked  with  his 
legs,  abusing  them  all,  in  the  following  terms  :  '  If  you 
carry  me  to   the  magistrate,  I  shall   only  be  beaten  or 


COUBTS  185 

pilloried  and  then  sent  home,  after  which  I  will  surely 
take  your  lives  in  revenge.'  Lieu-hoey-kuey,  being 
enraged  at  this  language,  took  up  a  small  knife  used  for 
cutting  tobacco,  which  happened  to  lie  at  the  head  of  the 
bed,  and  wounded  Pan-kiun-ting  with  it  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  belly,  so  that  he  died  very  soon  afterwards. 

"  The  parties  present  then  became  fearful  of  the  conse- 
quences of  the  murder,  and  covered  up  the  body  with 
the  bedclothes.  After  the  first  watch  of  the  night, 
Lieu-hoey-kuey  desired  Puon-kiun-ye  and  Lieu-tsing-ta  to 
take  away  the  corpse  and  throw  it  into  the  water,  which 
they  did  accordingly  ;  but  soon  after  Pan-kiung-tching, 
and  others  related  to  the  deceased,  found  the  body  and 
lodged  a  complaint  with  the  magistrate  of  the  district. 
Lieu-hoey-kuey,  being  in  consequence  brought  to  trial 
and  examined,  confessed  that  the  foregoing  statement  of 
the  circumstances  was  correct. 

"  The  facts  being  thus  substantiated,  the  sub-viceroy 
pronounced  the  offence  to  be  the  wilful  murder  of  a  hired 
slave,  and  to  be  equivalent  to  the  wilful  murder  of  a 
serving-man,  which,  according  to  the  penal  Code,  is  pun- 
ishable with  death  by  strangulation,  at  the  next  general 
execution  and  gaol  delivery. 

"The  supreme  criminal  court  remarks  thereupon  that, 
according  to  the  penal  Code,  if  a  master  strikes  his  servant 
so  that  he  dies  in  consequence  of  the  blows  received,  he 
shall  be  punished  with  one  hundred  blows  and  three 
years'  banishment ;  again,  if  a  master  designedly  kills 
his  serving-man,  he  shall  be  strangled  ;  lastly,  if  any 
man  unauthorizedly  kills  an  offender  after  he  has  seized 
him,  the  punishment  shall  be  conformable  to  the  law  in 
the  case  of  killing  in  an  affray.  Now,  because  unau- 
thorizedly killing  manifestly  comprehends  both  designed 
and  malicious  killing,  designedly  killing  an  apprehended 


186  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

offender  will  be  punishable  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
offence  of  killing  an  innocent  person  in  an  affray,  that  is 
to  say,  killing  without  a  positive  design  to  kill ;  this 
precisely  applies  to  the  case  in  question,  except  that  the 
deceased  was  not  the  equal,  but  the  servant,  of  the  person 
who  killed  him  ;  the  punishment,  therefore,  ought  to  be 
conformable  to  the  law  against  a  master  killing  his  ser- 
vant in  an  affray,  which  is  one  hundred  blows  and  three 
years'  banishment,  or,  practically,  forty  blows  inflicted  at 
the  place  of  banishment. 

"The  sub-viceroy  altered  the  sentence  of  Lieu-hoey- 
kuey  conformably  to  the  suggestion  of  the  supreme  court, 
and  added,  that  as  Puon-kiun-ye  ahd  Lieu-tsing-ta  threw 
the  corpse  away,  they  ought  to  be  punished  only  one 
degree  less  severely,  as  accessories,  that  is  to  say,  with 
ninety  blows,  and  banishment  for  two  years  and  a  half. 

"  The  supreme  court  again  remarked,  that  there  is  a 
specific  regulation  applicable  to  those  less  serious  cases  of 
homicide,  for  which  no  man  is  made  legally  answerable 
with  his  life,  which  regulation  declares,  that  whoever 
throws  away  the  corpse  in  such  cases,  shall  only  be 
punished  as  in  any  case  of  secretly  interring  a  corpse  of 
an  individual  whose  decease  has  been  concealed,  which 
punishment  amounts  to  eighty  blows.  Now,  in  the 
present  case,  the  offence  of  killing  the  slave  not  being 
determined  to  be  capital,  that  of  throwing  away  the 
corpse  cannot  be  punished  with  more  than  eighty  blows  as 
aforesaid  ;  and  as  Lieu-hoey-kuey  directed  the  corpse  to 
be  thrown  away,  those  who  executed  the  same  were  only 
accessories  to  the  offence  and,  accordingly,  subject  to  the 
punishment  reduced  one  degree;  Puon-kiun-ye  and  Lieu- 
tsing-ta  ought  therefore  to  be  sentenced  each  to  receive 
seventy  blows,  or,  practically,  twenty-five  blows. 

"  The  supreme  court  lastly  notices  the  edict  of  the  thirty- 


COURTS  187 

eighth  year  of  Kien-lung,  by  which  it  is  ordered  that  all 
magistrates  of  cities  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  order, 
who  concur  in  pronouncing  a  sentence  of  death,  which  is 
afterward  set  aside  as  erroneous,  and  is  exchanged  for 
banishment,  are  subjected  to  a  diminution  of  one  degree 
of  rank,  and  removal  to  an  inferior  office.  It  is  thereupon 
suggested  that  the  several  magistrates  who  concurred  in 
the  erroneous  sentence  adopted  and  reported  by  the  sub- 
viceroy  should  be  degraded  accordingly. 

"  On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the  fifth  moon  of  the  forty- 
sixth  year  of  Kien-lung  the  above  proceedings  were  laid 
before  the  Emperor,  and  on  the  twenty-ninth  they 
received  the  ratification  of  his  Imperial  Majesty." 

I  have  quoted  in  full  the  above  revision  of  the  sentence 
of  a  lower  court,  because  it  will  be  interesting  to  know 
that  a  superior  judicial  tribunal  in  China  is  careful  in  its 
revision,  and  that  this  is  done  with  directness  and  legal 
acumen. 

The  administration  of  the  law  by  Chinese  courts  appears 
simple  and  practical.  Suits  are  commenced  by  a  petition, 
in  which  the  case  is  stated,  and  there  are  certain  days  in 
every  month  for  receiving  petitions,  but  probably  this  is  a 
rule  with  exceptions,  though  it  shows  regard  for  system. 
There  being  no  professional  lawyers  in  China,  the  petitions 
and  other  papers  that  may  be  necessary  in  the  suit  are 
prepared  by  a  certain  class  who  make  it  their  business  to 
prepare  legal  documents,  and,  while  filling  an  important 
vocation,  are  looked  upon  with  disfavour  by  the  officials. 
The  petition  and  other  documents  must  bear  the  seal  of 
the  ti-pao^  who  is  an  official  of  the  lowest  rank,  but  an 
important  one,  as  in  his  person  the  official  class  seems  to 
come  in  real  contact  with  the  people,  for  he  is  the  small 
nerve  from  the  government  which  loses  itself  among  the 
people. 


188  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  seal  of  the  ti-pao  authenticates  the  party  and  officers 
testifying  to  his  residence.  When  the  petition  has  been 
properly  stamped  with  the  seal  of  the  ti-pao,  it  passes 
through  several  hands  and  is  copied  before  it  is  presented 
to  the  magistrate  ;  but  there  are  certain  cases  in  which  the 
petitioner  is  permitted  to  appeal  directly  to  the  magis- 
trate by  going  to  his  office,  or  by  handing  him  the  petition 
as  he  passes  through  the  street,  a  privilege,  however,  that 
is  only  indulged  when  the  case  is  of  a  serious  criminal 
nature,  for  in  common  matters  it  would  be  a  breach  of 
law  thus  to  approach  or  accost  the  magistrate.  If  the 
petitioner's  interest  will  be  better  served  by  presenting 
the  petition  on  a  day  other  than  the  regular  days,  the  pay- 
ment of  an  extra  charge  will  help  along  the  progress  of 
the  document.  If  the  petitioner  is  a  woman,  or  a  member 
of  the  gentry,  the  representation  is  by  proxy,  usually  by  a 
servant  of  the  family,  and  sometimes  by  a  paid  agent;  but 
if  the  case  is  lost,  the  petitioner  must  appear  in  person. 
After  the  petition  is  examined  by  the  magistrate,  it  is  sent 
to  a  certain  board  of  the  magistracy,  and  the  defendant  is 
summoned  to  appear.  The  petition  is  generally  answered 
as  soon  as  the  defendant  has  notice  of  it,  and  the 
answer  takes  the  same  course  as  the  petition.  It  is  not  al- 
ways customary  for  the  defendant  to  appear.  He  is  sum- 
moned to  appear,  and  the  police  are  ordered  to  arrest  him 
and  bring  him  into  court;  but  if  he  pays  a  sum  satisfactory 
to  the  police,  as  is  sometimes  done,  they  report  that  he  is 
not  to  be  found.  This  custom  is  successful  to  a  certain 
degree  and  is  occasionally  winked  at  as  a  perquisite  of  the 
office  of  a  Chinese  policeman. 

In  criminal  cases,  the  criminal  may  be  arrested  and 
delivered  to  the  magistrate  by  one  of  the  gentry,  with  the 
proofs  of  guilt  or  reasons  for  suspicion.  When  the  com- 
mission of  a  crime  has  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 


COURTS  189 

a  magistrate,  and  the  criminal  has  escaped  detection,  the 
local  officials  are  often  held  responsible,  under  a  threat  of 
degradation  if  the  criminal  is  not  produced.  If  the 
crime  is  very  serious,  a  large  sum  of  money  may  prevent 
investigation.  The  principle  of  mutual  responsibility 
here  appears  in  its  repulsiveness :  a  high  official  of  a 
province  once  gave  orders  for  the  destruction  of  a  whole 
village  if  a  noted  criminal  were  not  delivered,  the  commu- 
nities or  villages  being  considered  by  custom  as  "  cities  of 
refuge,"  as  well  as  held  accountable  for  the  peaceful  con- 
duct of  their  inhabitants. 

If  the  party  arrested  pleads  "not  guilty,"  he  may  be 
released  on  satisfactory  bail;  and  if  the  bail  is  given  by 
one  of  the  gentry,  it  argues  favourably  in  behalf  of  the 
arrested  party.  If  the  offender  is  convicted  of  a  serious 
offence,  the  one  who  stood  his  bail  commits  an  offence  by 
that  act,  and  is  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  the 
offender  in  case  of  a  fresh  charge  against  him.  But 
many  cases,  both  civil  and  criminal,  are  referred  to  the 
neighbours  of  the  litigants  or  the  accused,  and  when 
they  are  unable  to  adjust  matters  finally,  or  refuse  to 
become  bail,  the  case  goes  before  the  magistrate  greatly 
prejudiced. 

The  material  distinction  between  Chinese  and  western 
criminal  jurisprudence  is  seen  in  the  trial  of  the  accused. 
The  great  safeguard,  that  the  accused  is  presumed  inno- 
cent until  proven  guilty,  is  reversed  in  China,  and  he  is 
supposed  to  be  guilty.  The  parental  theory  follows  him 
into  court  and  denies  him  the  right  to  counsel,  as  a  parent 
would  not  admit  an  advocate  for  his  son  who  had  offended 
him.  The  trial  is  not  wholly  to  decide  whether  the  ac- 
cused is  guilty  or  not,  for  his  guilt  is  usually  assumed,  but 
to  determine  the  nature  of  the  crime  and  the  degree  of 
punishment  to  be  inflicted  ;  and  as  confession  is  neces- 


190  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

sary  in  order  to  settle  the  case,  if  the  accused  will  not 
confess,  he  is  tortured  until  he  does  confess. 

This  chapter  may  appropriately  include  a  quotation 
from  M.  Hue's  interesting  papers  on  the  Chinese  Empire, 
in  which  are  vividly  portrayed  some  of  the  characteristics 
of  a  Chinese  magistrate  and  of  the  administration  of 
justice  :  "  Although  somewhat  inclined  to  doleful  lam- 
entation, the  magistrate  Pao-ngan  was,  on  the  'whole, 
a  very  good  fellow,  and  took  the  trials  and  vicissitudes 
of  this  nether  world  pretty  easily.  He  had  come  into 
office  rather  late,  and  only  when  his  days  were  on  the 
decline,  but  he  certainly  did  his  utmost  to  make  up  for 
lost  time. 

"  He  loved  law  to  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  and  never 
failed  to  make  the  most  of  it.  He  had  two  or  three  kinds 
of  myrmidons  constantly  employed  in  rummaging  up,  in 
all  quarters  of  the  town,  all  the  little  affairs  that  could  be 
brought  within  his  jurisdiction,  and  his  good  humour 
increased  with  the  number  he  had  on  his  hands. 

"  Such  an  eagerness  for  the  fulfilment  of  duties  that  are 
mostly  considered  troublesome  and  annoying  could  not 
but  appear  to  us  very  edifying,  and  we  found  ourselves 
charitably  disposed  to  admire  in  Pao-ngan  his  extraor- 
dinary passion  for  justice.  But  he  speedily  undeceived 
us,  by  very  frankly  declaring  that  he  wanted  money,  and 
that  a  well-managed  cause  was  the  best  means  of  procur- 
ing it.  '  If  it  is  allowable,'  said  he,  '  to  make  a  fortune 
by  trade  and  commerce,  why  may  not  one  also  grow  rich 
by  teaching  reason  to  the  people,  and  developing  the  prin- 
ciples of  justice  ?  ' " 

These  not  very  elevated  sentiments  are  common  to  all 
the  mandarins,  and  they  express  them  openly  and  without 
scruple.  The  administration  of  justice  has  become  a 
regular    traffic,   and  the   chief    cause  of  this    abuse,    I 


COURTS  191 

really  believe,  is  to  be  found  in  the  insufficient  remuner- 
ation allotted  by  government  to  magistrates.  It  is  ex- 
tremely difficult  for  them  to  live  in  suitable  style,  with 
the  palanquins,  and  servants,  and  the  costume  suitable  to 
their  position,  if  they  have  nothing  more  to  meet  all  these 
expenses  than  the  slender  resources  granted  to  them  by 
the  state.  Their  subordinates  have  no  pay  at  all,  and 
have  to  indemnify  themselves  as  well  as  they  can,  by  ex- 
ercising their  industry  on  the  unlucky  suitors  who  pass 
through  their  hands  —  veritable  sheep,  from  whom  every 
one  snatches  as  much  wool  as  he  can  tear  off,  and  who 
are  not  unfrequently  at  last  completely  fleeced. 

Toward  the  commencement  of  the  present  dynasty 
these  abuses  had  become  so  flagrant,  and  the  complaints 
on  the  subject  so  unanimous  throughout  the  Empire,  that 
the  cantons  drew  up  a  memorial  against  the  country  tri- 
bunals, and  presented  it  to  the  Emperor  Kang-hi.  The 
answer  was  soon  given,  and  a  curious  one  it  was.  "  The 
Emperor,  considering  the  immense  population  of  the  Em- 
pire, the  great  division  of  territorial  property,  and  the 
notoriously  law-loving  character  of  the  Chinese,  is  of 
opinion  that  lawsuits  would  tend  to  increase,  to  a  fright- 
ful amount,  if  people  were  not  afraid  of  the  tribunals,  and 
if  they  felt  confident  of  always  finding  in  them  ready  and 
perfect  justice.  As  man,"  continues  the  imperial  logi- 
cian, "  is  apt  to  delude  himself  concerning  his  own  inter- 
ests, contests  would  then  be  interminable,  and  the  half  of 
the  Empire  would  not  suffice  to  settle  the  lawsuits  of  the 
other  half.  I  desire,  therefore,  that  those  who  have 
recourse  to  the  tribunals  should  be  treated  without  any 
pity,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  they  shall  be  disgusted 
with  law,  and  tremble  to  appear  before  a  magistrate.  In 
this  manner  the  evil  will  be  cut  up  by  the  roots ;  the  good 
citizens,  who  may  have  difficulties  among  themselves,  will 


192  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

settle  them  like  brothers,  by  referring  to  the  arbitration 
of  some  old  man,  or  the  mayor  of  the  commune.  As  for 
those  who  are  troublesome,  obstinate,  and  quarrelsome,  let 
them  be  ruined  in  the  law-courts  —  that  is  the  justice 
that  is  due  to  them." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EXTRA-TEREITORIALITY 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  international  law  that  a  state  has 
jurisdiction  over  the  person  and  property  of  foreigners 
upon  its  land  and  waters,  and  is  responsible  for  acts  done 
within  its  boundaries  by  which  foreign  states  or  their 
citizens  are  affected. 

But  this  right,  which  international  law  recognizes  as  be- 
longing to  a  sovereign  state,  China  has  partly  surrendered 
in  the  treaties  which  she  has  made  with  western  nations. 
According  to  those  treaties  the  person  and  property  of 
foreigners  upon  the  land  and  waters  of  China  are  exempt 
from  her  jurisdiction,  and  are  no  longer  subject  to  the 
operation  of  Chinese  law.  The  person  is  now  under  the 
protection  of  his  own  flag,  and  his  property  is  safeguarded 
by  the  laws  represented  by  that  flag. 

In  thus  surrendering  to  western  nations  jurisdiction 
over  their  citizens  and  their  property,  although  both  be 
within  the  territorial  limits  of  China,  the  responsibility  of 
giving  the  necessary  protection  to  both  still  remains  an 
obligation  on  China,  which  she  is  under  a  treaty  guarantee 
to  perform. 

In  despoiling  herself  of  half  of  her  sovereignty  and 
conceding  it  to  western  nations,  China  has  given  effect 
to  the  laws  of  those  nations  within  her  own  territory  ; 
this  fact  is  expressed  by  the  legal  term  extra-territoriality. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  China  has  complained 
long,  and  with  apparent  sincerity.  Her  contention  is  that 
o  193 


194  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

western  nations  have  forced  her  to  enter  into  treaties  with 
them  by  which  her  sovereign  rights  have  beien  partly 
taken  away,  and  yet  hold  her  responsible,  as  if  she  were 
in  full  possession  of  those  rights. 

Upon  its  face  the  contention  is  just,  but  the  advocates 
of  China  seem  to  forget  that  as  early  as  the  ninth  century 
China  had  granted,  of  her  own  free  will,  exemption  from 
her  laws  to  foreigners  within  her  territory.  The  Arabs 
who  built  a  mosque  at  Canton  long  before  Columbus  dis- 
covered America  were  granted  by  China  the'  liberty  of 
being  governed  by  their  own  laws ;  and  the  Portuguese 
who  settled  at  Macao  exercised  jurisdiction  over  their 
countrymen  with  the  permission  of  China.  It  is  also 
a  fact  that  when  foreign  consulates  were  established  in 
the  foreign  settlement  outside  the  city  of  Canton,  the 
consuls  heard  and  determined  all  complaints  against  the 
men  of  their  respective  nations,  and  China  assented. 

If  the  principle  of  local  self-government  has  been  trans- 
planted to  the  soil  of  China  by  western  nations,  it  was 
through  the  approving  agency  of  China  herself,  for  at  that 
period,  as  well  as  later,  she  could  probably  have  success- 
fully opposed  such  a  principle. 

The  truth  is,  China  wanted  as  little  intercourse  as  pos- 
sible with  foreigners,  and  seeing  that  it  was  very  difficult 
to  keep  them  out  of  her  territory,  she  was  willing  to  let 
them  manage  their  own  household  affairs,  as  best  suited 
themselves,  when  thiey  took  up  their  abode  therein.  The 
disposition  to  avoid  everything  like  trouble  or  responsi- 
bility, which  is  inherent  in  the  Chinese  character,  has 
placed  the  Empire  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  the  negotia- 
tions with  western  countries.  In  the  main,  the  common- 
sense  diplomacy  of  the  West  has  proved  an  overmatch  for 
the  finesse  of  the  diplomacy  of  the  East. 

When,  therefore,  Caleb  Cushing  arrived  in  China  as  the 


EXTRA-TEERITOEIALITY  195 

accredited  representative  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  it  was  not  so  difficult  for  him  to  secure  from  China 
a  large  grant  of  treaty  powers.  China  had  been  prepared, 
by  her  own  previous  acts,  to  grant  extra-territorial  rights 
to  western  nations,  and  when  Mr.  Cushing  made  the  de- 
mand for  the  grant,  the  subject  was  not  new  to  Chinese 
statesmen. 

The  treaty  which  Mr.  Cushing  negotiated  with  China, 
on  behalf  of  his  government,  was  the  clearest  and  fullest 
that  had  been  negotiated  between  China  and  any  other 
government,  and  was  the  authority  for  settling  disputed 
questions  between  Chinese  and  foreigners  up  to  the  treaty 
revision  of  1858-1860. 

In  the  treaty  between  China  and  Great  Britain,  dated 
1858,  the  doctrine  of  extra-territoriality  is  laid  down  in 
Article  XVI.,  and  appears  as  a  part  of  Section  II.  of  the 
Chefoo  Convention.  The  latter  reads  as  follows :  The 
British  Treaty  of  1858,  Article  XVI.,  lays  down  that 
"Chinese  subjects  who  may  be  guilty  of  any  criminal 
act  towards  British  subjects  shall  be  arrested  and  pun- 
ished by  Chinese  authorities  according  to  the  laws  of 
China. 

"  British  subjects  who  may  commit  any  crime  in  China 
shall  be  tried  and  punished  by  the  functionary  authorized 
thereto,  according  to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Justice  shall  be  equitably  and  impartially  administered 
on  both  sides." 

The  words  "  functionary  authorized  thereto  "  are  trans- 
lated in  the  Chinese  text  "British  Government." 

"  In  order  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  treaty  obligation,  the 
British  Government  has  established  a  supreme  court  at 
Shanghai,  with  a  special  code  of  rules,  w^hich  it  is  now 
about  to  revise.  The  Chinese  Government  has  estab- 
lished at  Shanghai  a  mixed  court,  but  the  officer  presid- 


196  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ing  over  it,  either  from  lack  of  power  or  dread  of 
unpopularity,  constantly  fails  to  enforce  his  judgments. 

"It  is  now  understood  that  the  Taung-li  Yamen  will 
write  a  circular  to  the  legation  inviting  Foreign  Represen- 
tatives at  once  to  consider  with  the  Tsung-U  Yamen  the 
measures  needed  for  the  more  effective  administration 
of  justice  at  the  ports  open  to  trade. 

"  It  is  agreed  that  whenever  a  crime  is  committed  affect- 
ing the  person  or  property  of  a  British  subject,  whether  in 
the  interior  or  at  the  open  ports,  the  British  minister  shall 
be  free  to  send  officers  to  the  spot  to  be  present  at  the  in- 
vestigation. 

"  To  the  prevention  of  misunderstanding  on  this  point, 
Sir  Thomas  Wade  will  write  a  note  to  the  above  effect,  to 
which  the  Tsung-U  Yamen  will  reply,  affirming  that  this 
is  the  course  of  proceeding  to  be  adhered  to  for  the  time 
to  come. 

"  It  is  further  understood  that  so  long  as  the  laws  of  the 
two  countries  differ  from  each  other,  there  can  be  but  one 
principle  to  guide  judicial  proceedings  in  mixed  cases  in 
China,  namely,  that  the  case  is  tried  by  the  official  of  the 
defendant's  nationality,  the  official  of  the  plaintiff's 
nationality  merely  attending  to  watch  the  proceedings  in 
the  interest  of  justice.  If  the  officer  so  attending  be  dis- 
satisfied with  the  proceedings,  it  will  be  in  his  power  to 
protest  against  them  in  detail.  The  law  administered 
will  be  the  law  of  the  nationality  of  the  officer  trying 
the  case.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  hui  fung, 
indicating  combined  action  in  judicial  proceedings,  in 
Article  XVI.  of  the  treaty  of  Tientsin  ;  and  this  is  the 
course  to  be  respectively  followed  by  the  officers  of  either 
nationality." 

The  meaning  of  Article  XVI.  could  hardly  be  expressed 
in  clearer  language.     It  unconditionally  provides  that*  a 


EXTRA-TERRITORIALITY  197 

British  subject  in  China  shall  be  tried  before  a  British 
court  and  adjudged  by  British  law. 

To  carry  into  effect  Article  XVI.  the  British  govern- 
ment has  established  a  supreme  court  at  Shanghai,  which 
is  presided  over  by  an  official  known  as  the  chief  justice, 
and  before  which  the  personal  and  property  rights  of 
British  subjects  in  China  are  heard  and  determined. 
When  a  British  subject  does  not  reside  at  Shanghai,  but  at 
some  other  place  in  China,  any  complaint  against  such 
subject  is  heard  by  the  nearest  British  consular  officer, 
against  whose  decision  appeal  is  optional. 

Another  clear  provision  of  the  article  is  that  the  Chi- 
nese government  shall  establish  a  mixed  court  at  Shanghai 
for  the  purpose  of  adjudicating  all  matters  in  which  a  sub- 
ject of  China,  residing  at  Shanghai,  may  be  the  defendant 
and  a  foreigner  the  plaintiff. 

Under  the  favoured  nation  clause  other  foreign  nations, 
having  treaty  relations  with  China,  enjoy  for  their  citizens 
all  the  privileges  and  exemptions  of  Article  XVI,,  but 
the  British  government  is  the  only  government  that  has  a 
court  established  in  China  according  to  the  regular  judi- 
cial system  and  organized  to  meet  the  dignity  and  ends  of 
that  system. 

All  the  other  nations  exercise  judicial  power  through 
their  respective  consular  representatives,  who,  when  sitting 
in  a  judicial  capacity,  preside  over  what  are  known  as  con- 
sular courts. 

But  I  believe  that  the  reader  will  better  understand 
what  is  meant  by  extra-territoriality  if  I  select  the  city  of 
Shanghai  and  explain  the  main  principles  of  its  govern- 
ment. 

The  city  of  Shanghai  is  about  twelve  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Hwang-pu  River.  When  Shanghai  was 
made  a  treaty  port,  China  agreed  that  certain  territory, 


198  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

bordering  the  river  and  contiguous,  should  be  set  apart  for 
the  residence  of  foreigners  and  for  business  purposes.  By 
virtue  of  the  agreement,  the  government  of  France,  in  co- 
operation with  that  of  China,  measured  off  a  certain  area 
of  land  now  called  the  French  Concession,  and  over  this 
the  French  government,  through  its  consular  officer  and  a 
municipal  council,  exercises  exclusive  control.  At  the 
same  time  another  area  was  measured  and  set  apart  for  the 
government  of  Great  Britain,  and  a  third  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  of  America.  But  it  appears 
that  the  last  two  governments  did  not  accept  separate  and 
independent  concessions  as  did  the  French  ;  they  acted  in 
concert,  and  the  two  concessions  which  were  measured  off 
for  them  were  united  under  what  is  now  known  as  the 
International  Settlement.  The  International  Settlement 
is  under  the  control  of  the  foreign  consular  representa- 
tives at  Shanghai,  and  a  municipal  council  composed  of 
nine  members,  who  are  citizens  of  the  principal  foreign 
powers.  When  the  foreign  consular  representatives  are 
considering  a  subject  relating  to  the  International  Settle- 
ment, they  meet  together  and  act  as  the  consular  body. 
If  the  subject  under  consideration  should  be  difficult  of 
application,  or  should  it  involve  a  question  of  diplomacy, 
it  is  referred  to  the  foreign  ministers  at  Peking  for  their 
decision. 

The  members  who  compose  the  municipal  council  of  the 
International  Settlement  are  elected  by  the  rate  (tax)  pay- 
ers of  the  settlement.  Before  a  resident  of  the  settlement 
is  qualified  to  vote,  it  must  appear  on  the  ratepayers'  list 
that  he  ow:ns  property  of  a  certain  value,  or  pays  taxes 
to  a  certain  amount,  and  the  holding  of  property  and  pay- 
ment of  taxes  are  controlled  by  special  regulations. 

There  are  other  regulations  providing  how  property  in 
the  settlement  shall  be   assessed  for  taxation  and  how 


EXTBA-TERRITORIALITY  199 

taxes  shall  be  collected.  And  once  in  eacli  year  the  rate- 
payers meet  in  general  meeting,  when  the  annual  fiscal 
budget  is  submitted  to  them  for  their  approval,  and  no 
expenditure  is  legal  without  such  approval. 

The  regulations  for  the  police  and  fiscal  government  of 
the  city,  as  well  as  those  providing  for  the  election  of  a 
municipal  council  and  its  duties,  are  drawn  up  by  the  con- 
sular body  and  approved  by  the  diplomatic  body  ;  they 
are  then  the  statute  law  of  Shanghai. 

The  government  of  China  collects  a  very  small  land  tax 
in  the  area  of  the  International  Settlement,  and,  with  that 
exception,  China  has  practically  no  part  whatever  in  the 
imposition  or  collection  of  taxes  on  property  in  the  settle- 
ment. 

There  is  a  police  force  for  the  settlement,  which  is  ap- 
pointed by,  and  is  under  the  management  of,  the  municipal 
council.  This  force  is  made  up  of  foreigners,  Chinese,  and 
Sikhs.  It  has  a  chief  of  police  and  subordinate  officers, 
on  the  same  principle  as  the  police  force  in  a  western  city. 
No  arrest  can  be  made  in  the  settlement  except  by  the 
police,  thus  constituted,  acting  under  a  warrant  issued  by 
a  proper  consular  officer  or,  conditionally,  by  the  mixed 
court. 

It  has  been  seen  that  Article  XVI.  provides  for  a 
British  supreme  court  and  for  a  mixed  court,  and  it  has 
been  stated  that  the  former  is  organized  according  to  the 
British  judicial  system,  but  the  organization  of  the  latter 
may  now  be  explained. 

The  mixed  court  is  so  called  because  of  the  nature  of  the 
cases  that  come  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  because  there 
presides  with  the  Chinese  magistrate  a  foreign  consular 
officer  whenever  the  subject  before  the  court  is  not  of  a 
purely  Chinese  nature. 

The  treaty  provides  that  the  law  by  which  the  court  is 


200  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

to  be  governed  is  the  law  of  the  nationality  of  the  ofScer 
trying  the  case,  which  means  that  the  law  governing  the 
proceedings  and  trials  in  the  mixed  court  is  Chinese  law ; 
the  consular  officer  who  presides  with  the  Chinese  magis- 
trate has  no  authority  except  to  watch  the  proceedings, 
and,  should  he  be  dissatisfied,  to  report  his  reason  for  dis- 
satisfaction to  his  government.  The  magistrate  hears  the 
evidence,  rules  as  to  its  admissibility,  and  delivers  the 
judgment  of  the  court  subject  to  appeal,  as  in  the  other 
cases  decided  by  lower  Chinese  courts. 

But  the  magistrate  of  the  mixed  court  is  not  allowed  to 
arrest  a  Chinese  in  the  settlement  except  through  the 
agency  of  the  foreign  police.  He  has  his  own  police, 
called  yamen  runners,  about  his  court,  but  these  harpies 
are  not  permitted  to  exercise  their  calling  in  the  Inter- 
national Settlement. 

The  settlement  is  further  protected  against  the  authority 
of  China  to  the  extent  that,  if  China  should  wish  to  arrest 
one  of  her  own  subjects,  residing  in  the  settlement,  such 
subject  could  not  be  arrested  until  the  warrant  for  the 
arrest  had  been  countersigned  by  the  senior  consular  rep- 
resentative. The  signature  of  the  magistrate  alone  would 
not  insure  its  execution.  And  if  the  Chinese  who  is 
to  be  arrested  •  is  in  the  employment  of  a  foreigner,  the 
warrant  would,  in  such  a  case,  have  to  be  approved  by  the 
consular  representative  of  the  foreigner  and  then  counter- 
signed by  the  senior  consular  representative.  And  after 
China  had  conformed  to  the  above  requirement,  the 
arrested  Chinese  could  still  claim  the  right  to  have  the 
accusation  against  him  heard  and  decided  under  the  super- 
vision of  a  foreign  consular  officer  sitting  with  the  magis- 
trate in  the  mixed  court. 

The  spirit  and  letter  of  the  treaties  and  regulations 
mean,  that  all  who  reside  in  the  settlement,  whether  for- 


EXTRA-TEREITORIALITr  201 

eigners  or  natives,  shall  be  exempt  from  the  interference 
of  the  Chinese  government,  that  over  a  foreigner  that  gov- 
ernment shall  have  no  control  whatever,  and  that  over  a 
native  its  control  shall  be  primarily  exercised  under  the 
supervision  of  a  foreign  official. 

There  are  as  many  consular  courts  at  Shanghai  as  there 
are  consular  representatives,  and  a  complaint  against  a 
foreign  resident,  whether  this  is  civil  or  criminal,  must  be 
made  to  his  consul,  who,  when  necessary  to  a  proper  adjust- 
ment, sits  as  a  judge  to  hear  and  decide  the  issue.  The 
organization  of  a  consular  court  will  be  best  understood  by 
my  selecting  one  and  explaining  it,  as  each  consular  court 
is  similarly  organized  and  has  about  the  same  authority 
over  the  men  of  its  nation. 

No  American  citizen  at  the  port  of  Shanghai  can  be 
either  arrested,  tried,  or  convicted  of  any  offence,  or  com- 
plained against  in  any  civil  action,  except  by  and  through 
the  action  of  the  consul-general  of  the  United  States  of 
America  at  Shanghai.  Whether  an  American  citizen 
commits  a  criminal  offence,  or  is  amenable  to  a  civil  pro- 
cess, there  is  no  officer  of  China  or  of  any  other  nationality 
in  China  who  has  jurisdiction  except  a  consular  or  diplo- 
matic officer  of  the  country  of  the  accused.  As  stated,  at 
Shanghai  the  only  warrant  or  summons  an  American  citi- 
zen is  required  to  obey  must  bear  the  signature  of  the 
consul-general  of  the  United  States,  and  should  be  exe- 
cuted by  the  United  States  marshal,  an  officer  of  the 
United  States  consular  court  at  Shanghai.  In  a  criminal 
proceeding,  when  the  imprisonment  may  be  for  a  longer 
period  than  sixty  days,  and  the  fine  more  than  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  the  consul-general  should  not  sit  alone,  but 
have  two  American  citizens  to  sit  with  him,  who  are 
designated,  in  the  law  enacted  by  Congress  in  such  cases, 
as  associates.     These  associates  are  usually  selected,  as 


202  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

also  by  law  provided,  to  sit  with  the  consul-general  in  all 
civil  cases  where  the  sum  involved  is  five  hundred  dollars 
or  more.  Appeals  against  the  decision  of  a  United  States 
consular  court  are  regulated  by  laws  passed  by  Congress, 
and  this  court  is  intended  to  be  similar  in  organization 
and  powers  to  that  of  a  United  States  district  court. 
At  every  port  of  China,  where  the  United  States  has 
consular  officers,  each  consul  has  the  same  jurisdiction 
over  Americans  at  that  port  as  the  consul-general  has 
over  Americans  at  Shanghai.  Appeals  against  the  de- 
cision of  a  United  States  consular  court  in  China  are 
to  the  court  of  the  United  States  minister  at  Peking, 
when  the  amount  involved  does  not  exceed  twenty- 
five  hundred  dollars;  when  the  amount  exceeds  twenty- 
five  hundred  the  appeal  may  be  made  to  the  ministerial 
court  or  to  the  circuit  court  of  California,  and  the  rules 
governing  appeals  in  United  States  courts  substantially 
apply. 

As  already  indicated,  the  French  Concession  is  under 
the  control  of  the  government  of  France.  Men  of  other 
nations  may  reside  or  own  property  in  the  concession, 
and  they  could  not  be  interfered  with  by  the  French 
authorities;  but  the  French  have  a  municipal  council  and 
police  force  of  their  own,  with  regulations  independent  of 
those  of  the  International  Settlement.  They  also  have  a 
mixed  court  similar  to  the  mixed  court  of  the  Interna- 
tional Settlement,  but  separate  and  governed  by  its  own 
rules. 

As  the  International  Settlement  and  the  French  Con- 
cession are  contiguous,  the  necessity  for  rules  to  define  the 
jurisdiction  and  powers  of  the  two  mixed  courts  was  evi- 
dent, and  the  following  are  the  rules  which  were  drafted 
by  the  consular  body  and  approved  by  the  diplomatic 
body  at  Peking  for  that  purpose :  — 


EXTRA-TERKITOBIALITY  203 

"1.  In  all  civil  cases  between  Chinese  the  plaintiff  will 
follow  the  defendant,  and  will  sue  him  before  the  Mixed 
Court  of  his,  the  defendant's,  residence. 

"  2.  In  all  criminal  cases  where  foreigners  are  not  con- 
cerned and  in  all  police  cases  against  Chinese  residents  in 
the  Settlements,  the  Mixed  Court  of  the  Settlement  in 
which  the  crime  or  contravention  has  been  committed  is 
alone  competent. 

"  3.   In  mixed  civil  cases :  — 

"  (a)  If  the  plaintiff  is  a  foreigner,  not  of  French 
nationality,  and  the  Chinese  defendant  is  a  resident  of  the 
International  Settlement,  he  is  to  be  sued  before  the 
Mixed  Court  of  the  International  Settlement. 

"  (J)  If  the  plaintiff  is  French  and  the  Chinese  defend- 
ant is  a  resident  of  the  French  Settlement,  he  is  to  be  sued 
before  the  Mixed  Court  of  the  French  Settlement. 
["Concession  "  is  strictly  proper.] 

"(c)  If  the  plaintiff  is  a  foreigner,  not  of  French 
nationality,  and  the  Chinese  defendant  is  a  resident  of  the 
French  Settlement,  the  latter  shall  be  sued  before  the 
Mixed  Court  of  the  International  Settlement,  whose  war- 
rant or  summons  for  his  appearance,  after  counter-signa- 
ture by  the  French  Consul-General,  will  be  executed  or 
served  by  the  runners  of  the  International  Mixed  Court 
with  the  assistance  of  the  police  of  the  French  Settlement, 
without  previous  hearing  in  the  Mixed  Court  of  the 
French  Settlement. 

"  (cZ)  If  the  plaintiff  is  French  and  the  Chinese  defend- 
ant is  a  resident  of  the  International  Settlement,  the  latter 
shall  be  sued  before  the  Mixed  Court  of  the  French  Set- 
tlement, whose  warrant  or  summons  for  his  appearance, 
after  being  countersigned  by  the  Senior  Consul,  will  be 
executed  or  served  by  the  runners  of  the  French  Mixed 
Court  with  the  assistance  of  the  police  of  the  Interna- 


204  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

tional  Settlement,  without  previous  hearing  in  the  Mixed 
Court  of  the  International  Settlement. 

"  4.  In  criminal  cases  where  a  foreigner,  not  of  French 
nationality,  is  complainant,  the  Mixed  Court  of  the  Inter- 
national Settlement  is  competent ;  if  a  Frenchman  is  the 
complainant,  the  Mixed  Court  of  the  French  Settlement  is 
competent." 


CHAPTER   IX 

GUILDS 

If  political  and  military  China  were  as  well  organized 
as  commercial  China,  the  foreign  department  of  her  gov- 
ernment would  not  be  so  continually  embarrassed  by  the 
demands  of  western  nations  for  spheres  of  influence  and 
concessions  of  territory.  While  in  theory  the  government 
is  absolute,  not  a  few  of  the  disorganizing  elements  of  a 
democracy  enter  into  its  practical  administration,  and 
there  is  no  central  influence  going  out  from  the  capital  to 
the  provinces  to  centralize  political  thought  or  control 
military  organization. 

China  in  commerce  presents  quite  a  different  view. 
The  commercial  influences  of  the  Empire  are  well  organ- 
ized and  directed,  and  are  under  the  guidance  of  expert 
and  competent  business  men.  In  all  the  more  important 
marts  of  trade  the  merchants  appear  to  know  the  capacity 
of  each  market  and  to  regulate  ventures  accordingly.  Of 
course  mistakes  are  made  and  failures  follow,  but  the 
commercial  life  of  China  is  perhaps  as  free  from  business 
errors  as  that  of  any  nation. 

But  any  knowledge  of  China  in  commerce  would  be 
superficial  without  a  clear  understanding  of  the  origin,  the 
power,  and  the  influence  of  the  guilds.  The  guilds  are 
organized  upon  carefully  defined  principles,  and  their  scope 
and  influence  in  business  cannot  be  successfully  over- 
looked. Their  power  has  subdued  the  highest  officials  of 
a  province,  and  emperors  listen  attentively  to  their  com- 

205 


206  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

plaints.     If  judged  by  their  influence,  they  have  somewhat 
more  than  a  semi-official  status. 

The  guilds  have  enjoyed  a  long  life  in  China.  The 
ancient  annals  of  the  Empire  give  accounts  of  them, 
but  their  origin  is  succinctly  set  forth  in  the  con- 
stitution and  by-laws  of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  in- 
fluential of  these  organizations  as  follows:  "  Wei  Kuan 
[guilds]  were  first  established  at  the  metropolis  by  man- 
darins, among  compatriots  or  fellow-provincials,  for  mutual 
aid  and  protection.  Subsequently,  merchants  formed 
guilds  like  those  of  the  mandarinate,  and  now  they  exist 
in  every  province."  At  Peking  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers are  generally  of  the  official  class,  but  in  the  provinces 
of  the  mercantile  class.  It  would  seem  that  at  the  capital 
the  necessities  of  the  gentry  and  lower  officials  demanded 
some  such  organization  for  mutual  protection  against 
the  greater  influences  which  dominate  there.  In  the 
provinces  the  merchant  class  associated  as  a  means  of  ad- 
vancing their  business  relations  by  regulating  and  adjust- 
ing them  according  to  rules  which  were  framed  by  each 
guild  for  its  special  guidance.  The  rules  of  the  guild 
organized  in  the  province  in  which  the  port  of  Ningpo 
is  situated  declare  that  the  guild  has  the  twofold  object 
of  protecting  its  members  against  sectional  prejudices, 
to  which  settlers  from  distant  places  are  subject,  and 
preventing  litigation  among  its  members.  These  two 
main  objects  are  made  known  in  the  preamble  of  the 
guild  in  the  following  words  :  "  For  a  century  no  prov- 
ince has  been  without  Ningpoese  residents.  Ningpo  is 
a  maritime  region.  Those  of  its  people  who  cannot 
find  employment  as  agriculturists  resort  to  other  places 
for  trade.  Here  at  Wenchow  we  find  ourselves  isolated,  — 
mountains  and  seas  separate  us  from  Ningpo,  —  and  when 
in  trade  we  excite  envy  on  the  part  of  Wenchowese,  and 


GUILDS  207 

suffer  insult  and  injury,  we  have  no  adequate  redress. 
Mercantile  firms,  each  caring  only  for  itself,  experience 
disgrace  and  loss  —  the  natural  outcome  of  isolated  and 
individual  resistance.  It  is  this  which  imposes  on  us  the 
duty  of  establishing  a  guild." 

Of  course  the  regulations  of  a  guild  are  to  promote  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  organized,  as  each  guild  has  its 
own  particular  business.  There  are  the  bankers'  guild, 
the  tea  guild,  the  silk  guild,  the  piece-goods  guild,  and 
others.  Many  of  the  larger  and  more  wealthy  guilds 
have  their  headquarters  in  the  principal  provincial  cities 
with  branch  offices  or  subguilds  in  the  smaller  cities  and 
towns. 

If  the  constitutions  and  by-laws  of  the  guilds  of  China 
could  be  codified,  doubtless  they  would  form  a  most  inter- 
esting and  instructive  code  of  mercantile  law.  It  would 
probably  be  a  code  in  which  some  of  the  underlying  prin- 
ciples of  modern  mercantile  law  could  be  traced,  or,  it 
may  be,  prove  the  foundation  of  other  codes  on  the 
subject. 

The  headquarters  of  the  wealthy  guilds  are  usually  the 
most  palatial  buildings  to  be  found  in  a  Chinese  city. 
They  contain  not  only  the  hall  where  the  members  meet, 
but  also  rooms  set  apart  for  the  lodging  of  high 
officials  when  travelling,  and  for  scholars  en  route  to  the 
metropolitan  examinations,  and  places  for  theatrical  per- 
formances. The  officers  consist  of  a  general  manager 
and  a  committee,  who  are  elected  annually,  but  are  eligible 
for  reelection.  There  is  a  permanent  secretary,  who  is  a 
scholar  of  literary  rank  and  who  is  paid  a  salary.  The 
guilds  invariably  select  scholars  of  literary  rank  for  their 
secretaries,  because  such,  by  virtue  of  their  literary  posi- 
tion, are  recognized  as  having  an  official  standing,  and  be- 
cause the  delegate  of  a  guild  has  access  to  the  official  class. 


208  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  secretary  is  the  medium  of  correspondence.  He  is 
regarded  as  the  guild's  legal  representative  in  defending 
its  interest  or  in  demanding  redress  for  an  injured  member. 

The  deliberations  of  a  guild  are  intended  to  be  dignified 
and  conservative.  With  this  object  in  view  the  member- 
ship is  limited  to  about  thirty,  and  the  junior  partners  of 
a  partnership  are  not  allowed  to  attend  the  meetings. 
There  are  no  written  parliamentary  rules  by  which  the 
proceedings  are  to  be  governed,  but  there  are  regulations 
such  as  one  which  a  guild  found  necessary  to  adopt  in 
order  to  protect  itself  against  useless  debate.  The  resolu- 
tion reads  as  follows:  "At  the  public  meetings  of  the 
guild,  should  there  be  any  one  of  higher  abilities  than  the 
rest,  with  a  plan  of  his  own  to  propose,  whatever  his 
station  may  be,  he  must  argue  and  explain  the  case  before 
all  the  members.  He  must  not  continue  to  dispute  the 
matter  after  it  has  been  decided,  as  such  a  proceeding  is 
useless  when  there  is  no  one  to  second  it ;  that  will  prevent 
waste  of  the  guild's  time." 

The  revenue  of  a  guild  is  derived  from  self-imposed 
taxes  on  commodities  sold  by  the  members,  and  to  know 
what  amount  has  been  thus  sold,  a  searching  proceeding 
is  provided  for.  On  this  subject  a  by-law  of  a  Canton 
guild  reads  :  "  At  the  annual  meeting  members  shall  hand 
in  duly  sealed  statements  of  their  contributions  for  the 
year,  making  obeisance  in  the  guild  temple  in  asseveration 
of  good  faith.  In  the  event,  however,  of  confusion  in 
any  account  or  its  being  called  into  question,  it  is  under- 
stood that,  notwithstanding  that  the  member  shall  have 
already  testified  to  its  accuracy  before  the  gods,  a  ballot 
shall  be  cast  to  decide  whether  the  member  whose  account 
is  doubted  shall  produce  his  books  for  the  inspection  of 
the  members.  If  the  account  proves  to  be  false,  he  shall 
be  fined  five  times  the  amount  due,  and  if  he  refuses  to 


GUILDS  209 

produce  his  books  or  submit  to  the  finding  of  the  meeting, 
he  shall  be  expelled  from  the  guild."  Further  to  secure 
accuracy  there  is  a  monthly  inspection  of  the  books  of 
every  establishment  connected  through  its  members  with 
a  guild.  The  inspection  is  made  by  clerks  of  various 
firms  in  rotation,  two  being  detailed  every  month  where 
the  firms  are  numerous.  There  is  no  business  firm  of 
English  origin  that  would  submit  to  any  such  inquisitorial 
proceedings,  but  in  China  the  system  is  self-imposed  and 
works  satisfactorily. 

That  members  may  not  stray  off  and  engage  in  litiga- 
tion, the  guilds  have  provided  for  the  settlement  of  disputes 
in  their  own  households  by  laws  like  the  following :  "  It 
is  agreed  that  members  having  disputes  about  money  mat- 
ters with  each  other  shall  submit  their  cases  to  arbitration 
at  a  meeting  of  the  guild,  where  the  utmost  will  be  done 
to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  dispute.  If  it 
prove  impossible  to  arrive  at  an  understanding,  appeal 
may  be  made  to  the  authorities,  but  if  the  complainant 
have  recourse  to  the  official  direct,  without  first  referring 
to  the  guild,  he  shall  be  subjected  to  a  public  reprimand." 

Another  rule  to  prevent  members  from  going  to  law 
reads  :  "  Among  members  of  our  compatriots  who  come 
here  there  are  those  who  engage  in  business  transactions, 
and  have  current  accounts,  as  well  as  those  who  enter  upon 
joint  speculations.  It  is  impossible  to  say  that  disputes 
may  not  arise  among  them.  If  anything  of  the  sort 
occurs,  the  guild  may  settle  the  difficulty  in  the  manner 
most  advantageous  to  all.  Justice  shall  be  observed,  and 
the  facts  of  the  case  brought  to  light,  and  the  matter  be 
decided  according  to  what  is  right.  That  justice  may 
be  manifested,  there  must  be  no   concealment." 

I  have  been  careful  to  point  out  the  regulation  that 
gives  a  guild  the,  inquisitorial  right  over  the  business  of 


210  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

members  as  well  as  the  two  regulations  that  compel  the 
submission  of  disputes,  not  business  disputes  only,  to 
final  adjustment  under  the  penalty  of  expulsion.  It  is 
such  power  over  members  that  gives  to  a  guild  its  com- 
pact organization  and  its  influence  in  commercial  China. 
In  another  place  in  this  chapter  attention  wiU  be  directed 
to  the  manner  in  which  in  some  cases  that  great  influence 
has  been  exercised. 

Not  only  are  there  comprehensive  regulations  meant  to 
indicate  the  general  scope  and  functions  of  a  guild,  but 
also  on  specific  subjects  there  are  rules  which  relate  to 
the  minutest  details.  There  are  the  rules  on  sale  by 
credit,  fixing  the  dates  of  payment  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  articles  sold. 

The  charge  for  storage,  with  attendant  responsibility, 
is  provided  for  by  the  following  rule  :  "  It  is  decided  that 
the  seller  of  goods  shall  store  them  for  seventy  days  free 
of  charge ;  but  if  they  are  not  removed  till  the  seventy- 
first,  they  shall  be  charged  a  month's  storage ;  if  not 
removed  at  the  end  of  that  period,  they  become  charge- 
able for  two  months'  storage  the  first  day  after ;  and  so  on. 
Contravention  of  this  rule  subjects  seller  and  purchaser 
alike  to  a  fine  equal  to  twice  the  regular  amount  of 
storage,  the  fines  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the 
guild." 

With  reference  to  weights  and  measures  there  does  not 
appear  to  be  any  common  standard,  but  provision  is  made 
by  some  of  the  guilds  for  standard  steelyards  and  meas- 
ures :  "  It  is  agreed  that  the  guild  shall  keep  a  standard 
set  of  weights  and  measures,  which  shall  be  adopted  by 
all  members,  that  there  be  no  light  issues  and  heavy 
receipts.  Should  it  become  known  that  a  member  is 
using  scales  at  variance  with  the  standard  set,  he  shall 
be  heavily  fined." 


GUILDS  211 

It  is  the  custom  of  some  of  the  guilds  to  maintain  fire- 
engines,  and  the  members  are  required  to  aid  in  extinguish- 
ing fires.  There  is  a  rule  which  makes  the  seller  of  goods 
in  storage  the  sufferer  for  their  loss  by  fire  for  five  days 
after  sale,  but  when  these  are  destroyed  later,  the  pur- 
chaser makes  good  the  loss.  In  case  of  destruction  in  civil 
strife,  it  is  agreed  that  purchaser  and  seller  shall  be  equal 
losers. 

Another  rule  is,  that  "  no  business  shall  be  transacted 
before  the  middle  of  the  first  month  of  the  year,  that 
goods  sold  in  the  tenth  month  shall  be  paid  for  by  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth,  those  sold  in  the  eleventh  shall  be 
paid  for  in  the  second  month  of  the  year  following,  that 
goods  sold  in  the  first  month  shall  be  regarded  as  if 
sold  at  the  beginning  of  the  second,  and  that  from  the 
first  of  the  second  month  the  forty,  fifty,  or  sixty  days' 
credit  allowed  to  certain  commodities  respectively  shall 
commence.  It  is  provided  also  that  goods  sold  in  the 
twelfth  month  shall  be  taken  by  the  purchaser,  or  be  liable 
to  charge  for  storage." 

Although  the  guilds  have  great  influence  in  official 
China,  they  are  careful  not  to  compromise  this  influence 
by  any  protection  to  a  member  who  does  not  promptly 
pay  his  dues  to  the  government.  "  The  consequence  of 
attempts  at  evasion  or  fraud  in  matters  of  the  revenue 
involving  fines  by  the  authorities  must  be  borne  by  the 
individual  implicated,  who  must  clear  himself  of  all 
trouble  as  best  he  can,  as  the  guild  will  not  concern 
itself  in  such  affairs."  But  a  guild  will  undertake  to 
assist  in  the  recovery  of  stolen  property.  "  Any  member 
concealing  a  robbery  or  retaining  stolen  property,  in  order* 
to  exact  a  heavy  ransom,  shall  be  fined  ten  times  the 
value  of  the  goods,  and  if  he  fail  to  pay  the  fine,  he  shall 
be  expelled  from  the  guild." 


212  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

If  western  merchants  have  introduced  any  irregular 
business  methods  into  China,  the  practice  of  fictitious 
buying  and  selling  is  not  one  of  them.  The  Chinese 
merchant  was  an  adept  in  the  practice  of  fictitious  selling 
and  buying  before  he  had  any  business  relations  with  a 
western  merchant,  and  to  such  a  demoralizing  extent  did 
he  carry  it  that  the  guilds,  many  of  them,  have  adopted 
stringent  rules  against  the  practice.  True,  the  practice 
is  not  made  an  offence  by  the  statutes  and  criminal  code 
of  China,  but  there  is  a  law  against  monopolizing  mar- 
kets so  broad,  comprehensive,  and  distensible  as  to  in- 
clude penjilties  against  all  mercantile  transactions  that 
are  inimical  to  the  public  weal.  There  are  two  cases 
specially  reported  of  imperial  intervention  to  prevent 
and  punish  monopolies.  In  1823  a  censor  memorial- 
ized the  Emperor  respecting  fictitious  traffic  in  bread- 
stuffs,  representing  that  certain  merchants,  availing 
themselves  of  a  drought  that  was  affecting  the  food  sup- 
ply, had  established  syndicates  for  fictitiously  buying  and 
selling  cereals.  The  Emperor  acted  upon  the  memorial 
by  commanding  the  high  provincial  officials  to  issue  pro- 
hibitory proclamations  against  the  practice.  I  have  before 
me  a  regulation  of  a  guild  which  reads  as  follows :  "  It  is 
agreed  that,  fictitious  buying  and  selling  being  illegal, 
this  guild  interdicts  that  to  its  members.  If  violations 
of  that  law  come  to  our  knowledge,  we  will  transmit  to 
the  authorities  the  offender's  name  ;  assuredly  no  favourit- 
ism will  be  shown."  The  Code  provides:  "When  the 
parties  to  the  purchase  and  sale  of  goods  do  not  amicably 
agree  respecting  the  terms,  if  one  of  them,  monopolizing 
or  otherwise  using  undue  influence  in  the  market,  obliges 
the  other  to  allow  him  an  exorbitant  profit,  or  if  artful 
speculators  in  trade,  by  entering  into  a  private  under- 
standing with  the  commercial  agent,  and  by  employing 


GUILDS  213 

other  unwarrantable  contrivances,  raise  the  price  of  their 
own  goods,  although  of  low  value,  and  depress  the  prices 
of  those  of  others,  although  of  high  value,  in  all  such 
cases  the  offending  parties  shall  be  punished  with  eighty 
blows  each  for  their  misconduct. 

"  When  a  trader,  observing  the  nature  of  the  commercial 
business  carried  on  by  his  neighbour,  contrives  to  suit  or 
manage  the  disposal  or  appreciation  of  his  own  goods  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  derange  and  excite  distrust  against 
the  proceedings  of  the  other,  and  thereby  draws  unfairly 
a  greater  proportion  of  profit  to  himself  than  usual,  he 
shall  be  punished  with  forty  blows. 

"  The  exorbitant  profit  derived  from  any  one  of  the  fore- 
going unlawful  practices  shall,  as  far  as  it  exceeds  a  fair 
proportion,  be  esteemed  a  theft,  and  the  offender  punished 
accordingly,  whenever  the  amount  renders  the  punishment 
provided  by  the  law  against  theft  more  severe  than  that 
hereby  established  and  provided.  The  offender  shall 
not,  however,  be  branded,  as  in  the  ordinary  cases  of 
theft." 

It  has  been  seen  that  a  guild  is  an  association  of  men 
who  are  supposed  to  have  a  common  interest  at  stake,  and 
that  the  meetings  are  regular,  in  order  that  all  matters 
relating  to  their  several  businesses  may  be  freely  and 
fully  discussed  and  rules  formulated  for  conducting  the 
same.  The  combination  reaches  with  its  influence  every 
trade  interest  that  is  common  to  its  members.  Its  de- 
cisions are  not  called  into  question,  but  are  implicitly 
obeyed  under  the  pain  of  a  heavy  penalty.  The  inner 
workings  of  the  guilds  are  not  generally  known.  The 
members  are  prohibited  from  discussing  its  affairs  in  public 
or  giving  any  information  on  subjects  coming  within  the 
province  of  a  guild.  This  is  an  example  of  the  mysteri- 
ousness  whidi  is  always  an  accompaniment  of  Chinese 


214  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

doings.     Complication  is  the  delight  of  every  association 

of  Chinese. 

The  guilds  no  doubt  had  their  origin  in  the  necessities 
of  the  times,  but  the  authority  which  they  have  assumed 
and  their  illiberality  have  about  ceased  to  be  beneficial  to  the 
development  of  the  legitimate  business  interest  of  China. 
Their  present  status  is  not  only  one  of  a  domineering  com- 
mercial authority,  but  they  have  extended  their  power- 
ful influence  to  political,  religious,  and  social  questions. 
To  incur  the  displeasure  of  a  guild  means  religious  and 
social  isolation  and  commercial  ruin.  And  the  Chinese, 
with  their  native  instinct  for  trade  and  finesse  in  ways 
mysterious,  have  no  equals  as  boycotters  when  aided  by 
associations  and  combinations  like  guilds.  On  this  point 
I  copy  from  a  report  by  a  commissioner  of  the  Swatow 
Imperial  Maritime  Customs :  — 

"  These  institutions  seem  to  be  a  material  manifesta- 
tion of  a  local  characteristic  of  the  people,  for  not  only 
do  merchants  combine  for  trade  purposes,  but  the  labour- 
ing classes,  whatever  their  employment,  all  band  together 
on  the  slightest  pretext,  whether  their  object  is  to  obtain 
wages,  or  to  secure  the  dismissal  of  an  outsider.  It  is 
recognized  throughout  the  Empire  that  in  their  remark- 
able faculty  for  combination,  and  the  rigid  obstinacy  with 
which  they  maintain  a  position  once  taken  up,  the  people 
of  Swatow  are  equalled  by  none  of  their  fellow-country- 
men. In  addition  to  the  ordinary  expenses,  the  guild 
has  to  spend  a  good  deal  in  making  presents  to  officials, 
giving  theatrical  performances  in  their  honour,  and  show- 
ing them  respect  in  various  other  ways.  The  income  out 
of  which  all  these  payments  are  made,  amounting  to  sev- 
eral thousand  dollars  in  a  year,  is  derived  from  a  tax  on 
merchandise,  entrance  and  clearance  fees  from  merchant 
vessels,  and  the  rents  of  property  owned  by  the  guild. 


GUILDS  215 

So  far  as  I  can  gather,  the  guild's  methods  of  working 
seem  to  be  as  follows :  Whenever  a  question  crops  up 
affecting  any  particular  trade,  the  heads  of  the  principal 
firms  engaged  in  it  first  come  to  some  agreement  amongst 
themselves,  then  talk  over  the  lesser  firms,  until  they  have 
gained  a  sufficient  following,  and  only  call  a  meeting  of 
members  to  adopt  what  they  have  agreed  upon  as  a  rule 
of  the  guild.  Nothing  seems  to  be  left  to  a  vote  in  open 
meeting ;  if  the  dissentients  are  strong,  the  matter  never 
comes  before  a  meeting  at  all.  Frequently  the  guild 
does  not  wish  its  actions  to  be  visible,  and  then  no  laws 
are  committed  to  writing,  but  a  general  understanding  is 
arrived  at,  which  seems  to  be  just  as  binding  as  a  formal 
utterance.  In  this  way,  most  likely,  they  masked  their 
resistance  to  the  imposition  of  extra  provincial  likin  — the 
Battery  Tax  —  in  1890,  when  no  dealer  in  the  taxed  arti- 
cles dared  to  come  to  any  arrangement  with  the  collectors 
sent  up  from  Canton,  who  were  unable  even  to  rent  a  place 
in  which  to  establish  themselves,  so  that  eventually  all 
attempts  to  force  payment  had  to  be  given  up.  By  the 
guild's  decrees  steamer  companies  are  forced  to  pay  claims 
for  damaged  uninsured  cargo,  which  they  feel  to  be  unjust. 
If  they  demur,  no  case  comes  up  for  trial ;  the  loss  of  their 
carrying  trade  is  the  penalty  that  quickly  makes  the 
objectionable  demands  seem  reasonable.  In  1881  some 
Swatow  merchants  were  heavily  fined  for  disregarding  a 
customs  rule  affecting  the  examination  of  cargo.  The 
guild  took  the  matter  up  with  spirit,  and  an  anonymous 
note  called  upon  merchants  to  cease  all  import  and  export 
trade  unless  their  demands  were  complied  with.  In  that 
particular  instance  the  guild  was  unable  to  gain  the  point 
for  which  it  was  fighting,  but  the  trade  was  kept  com- 
pletely at  a  standstill  for  fifteen  days,  pending  its  decision 
to  submit.     The  guild  concerns  itself  with  the  commercial 


216  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

interests,  individual  and  collective,  of  its  members,  settles 
trade  disputes,  enacts  trade  regulations,  and  performs, 
witli  equal  readiness,  the  functions  of  a  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, a  Board  of  Trade,  and  a  Municipal  Council.  It 
supports  a  fire-brigade,  levies  its  own  taxes,  provides 
standards  of  weights  and  measures,  fixes  rates  of  commis- 
sion, determines  settling  days,  provides  penalties  against 
the  tricks  of  trade,  and  acts  generally  as  the  guardian  of 
its  adherents,  and  the  terror  of  all  with  whom  they  do 
business.  It  possesses  a  power  to  enforce  its  views  which 
might  be  envied  by  many  a  government,  for  in  it  is  vested 
the  sole  right  to  the  exercise  of  that  mighty  engine,  that 
stalwart  crusher  of  arguments,  to  which  an  episode  of 
modern  Irish  history  has  given  the  name  of  boycotting." 

The  above  extract  is  a  comprehensive  summary  of  the 
scope  and  power  of  guilds  in  regulating  and  controlling 
the  internal  trade  of  the  Empire.  The  sympathy  between 
business  interests,  which  is  so  essential  to  a  healthy  and 
prosperous  condition,  has  been  injuriously  affected  by 
the  grasping  and  close-corporation  nature  of  modern  guilds 
in  China. 

But  foreign  business  and  foreign  firms  have  not  escaped 
the  influence  of  guilds.  They  can  interfere  and  have  inter- 
fered with  the  commercial  relations  of  western  merchants 
in  Chiiia,  and  there  are  examples  to  prove  how  seriously 
such  relations  have  in  consequence  been  impaired.  I 
select  a  few  from  the  reports  of  the  Blackburn  Mission 
to  China.  "  A  branch  in  Canton  of  a  well-known  Hong- 
kong piece-goods  firm  was,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
given  up,  their  clients  at  once  transferring  their  business 
to  the  Hongkong  house,  whither  they  proceeded  in 
order  to  purchase  their  requirements.  Sometime  after, 
an  attempt  was  made  by  Hongkong  to  reestablish  the 
branch  house,  never  doubting  for  a  moment  that  the  pres- 


GUILDS  217 

tige  of  former  existence  would  procure  their  wish.  But, 
in  the  meantime,  new  interest  had  been  created  in  favour 
of  native  agents,  dealers,  and  transit  companies,  who  were 
not  prepared  to  give  up  such  business  as  had  been  ac- 
quired. The  piece-goods  guild  at  once  took  the  matter 
up,  and  a  boycott  was  established  against  the  foreign  firm, 
an  action  which  was  only  satisfied  by  the  final  and  per- 
manent giving  up  of  the  objectionable  branch  house.  A 
like  experience  was  the  lot  of  a  Shanghai  firm,  which,  some 
years  ago,  attempted  to  establish  a  branch  house  in  a 
northern  port.  This  venture  was  looked  upon  as  inter- 
fering with  vested  interests,  and  the  firm  was  charged 
with  taking  away  the  living  of  agents,  etc.  A  boy- 
cott ensued  in  which  Shanghai  was  worsted,  and  serious 
losses  were  incurred.  Again,  a  Shanghai  firm,  well  estab- 
lished in  Hankow  as  importers  of  Indian  opium,  was 
warned  by  the  Swatow  Opium  Guild  that  the  time  had 
come  when  the  distributing  trade  of  this  drug  should  be 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  natives.  Shanghai,  feeling  itself 
secure  in  its  strength,  simply  laughed  at  the  implied  threat, 
but  from  that  day  forward  the  Hankow  branch  house 
could  not  sell  an  ounce.  Traders  and  dealers  alike  trans- 
ferred their  business  to  Shanghai,  and  to-day  not  an  ounce 
of  opium  is  sold  in  Hankow  by  any  foreigner." 

An  instance  of  the  influence  of  a  guild  came  under  my 
own  observation  at  Shanghai  in  1898.  It  is  the  custom 
that  when  a  Chinese  who  hails  from  Ningpo  dies  at 
Shanghai,  his  body  is  put  into  a  coffin  and  stored  away 
until  the  opportunity  offers  to  send  it  to  Ningpo.  The 
subject  is  one  that  comes  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Ningpo  guild,  which  keeps  a  house  on  the  French  Con- 
cession at  Shanghai  for  such  a  purpose.  There  were  a 
great  many  coffins  containing  dead  bodies  stored  in  that 
house,  and  the   French  Municipal  Council  had   ordered 


218  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

their  removal  in  the  interest  of  health  and  the  conven- 
ience of  the  public,  but  the  guild  made  known  its  intention 
to  resist  the  removal.  The  Council  insisted,  and  a  riot 
was  the  result.  Several  Chinese  were  shot  by  the  French 
police  and  volunteer  force,  and  it  was  then  that  the  Ningpo 
guild  issued  a  secret  order  for  the  suspension  of  all  busi- 
ness. There  is  a  valuable  trade  between  the  province  in 
which  Ningpo  is  situated  and  Shanghai,  and  much  of  it  is 
carried  by  steamers  running  between  the  ports  of  Shang- 
hai and  Ningpo,  but  when  the  order  of  the  guild  was  issued, 
several  large  steamships  remained  moored  at  their  wharves, 
and  the  business  which  drew  its  vitality  from  the  source 
indicated  was  at  a  standstill  until  the  order  of  the  guild 
was  revoked. 

If  what  has  been  written  above  affords  an  insight  into 
the  agency  of  guilds  in  shaping  commercial  China,  it  is 
now  in  order  to  refer  to  their  relations  with  official 
China. 

It  must  be  evident  that  in  a  country,  wherein  exist 
organizations  such  as  those  above  written  about,  with  the 
power  and  influence  described,  the  central  government 
must  be  proportionally  weakened.  Such  was  the  case  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  for  when  civil  life  was  the  strong- 
est there,  the  central  government  was  the  weakest. 

And  such  is  now  the  case  in  China,  for  the  central  gov- 
ernment would  hesitate  to  consider,  against  the  known 
wishes  of  the  guilds,  almost  any  subject,  whether  its  bear- 
ing were  political  or  commercial.  There  are  instances 
in  which  both  the  local  and  provincial  officials  have 
been  overruled  by  the  central  government  in  favour  of 
a  petition  of  the  guilds.  I  have  before  me  the  case  of 
certain  Ningpo  traders  whose  exportations  of  rice  were 
being  very  much  embarrassed  by  the  local  authorities,  and 
who,  failing  to  obtain  redress  from  their  provincial  authori- 


GUILDS  219 

ties,  appealed  to  Peking.  Their  appeal  was  favourably 
considered,  and  they  secured  exemption  from  further 
annoyance. 

The  rules  of  a  guild  are  read  in  the  courts  of  China  as 
if  they  were  a  part  of  the  statutory  law  of  the  Empire. 
With  reference  to  questions  before  the  court  such  rules 
determine  the  decision  of  the  court  as  if  conclusive  on  the 
law  relating  thereto.  The  status  in  court  of  a  member  of 
a  guild  is  more  assured  than  that  of  one  who  is  not  a 
member.  Often  questions  relating  to  commerce  which 
come  before  a  court  are  referred  to  a  guild  for  settlement, 
and  invariably  the  report  of  the  guild  is  accepted  as  final. 
Under  certain  conditions,  guilds  defend  their  members 
when  litigants,  and  scarcely  would  a  Chinese  judicial  offi- 
cer be  so  bold  as  to  deny  to  a  guild  the  privilege  of  appear- 
ing before  him  for  that  purpose. 

But  there  is  no  seeming  display  of  authority  when  a 
guild  exercises  its  semi-official  function.  The  utmost 
decorum  and  courtesy  are  observed.  Nothing  is  done  to 
subordinate  the  court  or  to  cause  its  officers  to  feel  a  sense 
of  inferiority.  And  it  is  through  so  much  considerateness 
that  a  guild  feels  its  way  to  the  highest  stations. 

It  is  on  record  that  the  chairmen  of  several  of  the 
guilds'  committees  have  associated  with  local  officials  in 
such  government  functions  as  the  arranging  of  local  tax 
assessments  and  tithes,  the  organizing  and  managing  of 
fire-brigades  and  militia  forces,  the  settlement  of  more 
important  bankruptcy  cases,  the  raising  and  administer- 
ing of  relief  funds,  and  the  control  of  orphanages  and 
asylums.  And  the  much-discussed  UTcin  tax  is  sometimes 
farmed  out  to  guilds  in  return  for  a  fixed  annual  subsidy. 
In  this  way  the  officials  are  enabled  to  meet  promptly  the 
demands  on  their  respective  exchequers,  and  the  guilds 
readily  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  place  pro- 


220  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

hibitive  exactions  on  the  goods  of  any  one  not  a  mem- 
ber, and  thus  debar  outsiders. 

The  Chinese  secretary  of  the  United  States  Legation 
at  Peking  (E.  T.  Williams)  has  translated  into  English 
some  recent  Chinese  legislation  relating  to  commercial, 
railway,  and  mining  enterprises,  and  there  appears  among 
the  regulations  one  with  reference  to  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce, the  second  paragraph  of  which  reads  as  follows: 
"  Commercial  guilds  and  mercantile  associations,  of  what- 
ever name,  which  have  been  already  established  by  various 
trades  in  the  several  provinces  at  various  ports,  must 
change  themselves  at  once,  in  compliance  with  the  regu- 
lations now  issued  by  this  Board,  into  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce, so  that  where  such  associations  have  not  been 
established  heretofore,  there  must  at  once  be  made  a 
systematic  investigation  of  the  importance  of  their  trade, 
that  Chambers  may  be  established  if  needed.  As  to  the 
various  Bureaus  charged  with  the  protection  of  trade,  the 
viceroys  and  governors  must  determine  whether  or  not 
they  are  to  be  retained  or  abolished." 

Apparently  from  the  above  paragraph  the  central  govern- 
ment had  made  up  its  mind  to  reform  the  most  influential 
agency  in  the  internal  trade  of  China  by  neutralizing  the 
power  of  the  guilds,  but  the  closing  sentence  of  the  para- 
graph clearly  directs  that  nothing  is  to  be  done  without  the 
consent  of  the  highest  provincial  authorities,  and  thus 
the  subject  remains  about  as  before. 

It  has  been  a  long  time  since  the  government  of  China 
has  recognized  the  necessity  of  legislating  at  all,  but  from 
Williams's  translation  there  does  appear  to  be  a  slight 
awakening,  and  if  it  could  be  made  to  move  on  central 
lines,  some  good  might  result.  At  present,  legislation  is 
left  too  much  to  the  provinces.  The  more  important  func- 
tions of  government  should  remain  and  be  exercised  at 


GUILDS  221 

Peking,  and  not  delegated  to  provincial  officials.  If  the 
central  government  appreciates  the  necessity  of  curbing 
the  dominating  authority  of  the  guilds  in  the  business 
afifairs  of  the  Empire,  the  subject  ought  to  be  decided  at 
Peking,  and,  from  the  capital,  an  unconditional  edict  ought 
to  issue  decreeing  what  should  and  what  should  not  be 
done.  China  is  in  the  rear-guard  of  nations  and  it  is 
mainly  because  the  functions  of  her  government,  although 
in  theory  centralized  with  so  much  exactness,  are  in  prac- 
tice scattered  and  undirected. 


CHAPTER  X 

BUSINESS   CUSTOMS 

From  the  earliest  ages  the  Chinese  have  been  pre- 
eminently a  trading  people.  Their  acuteness  and  sagacity 
were  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  contemporary  nations. 

In  the  thirteenth  century,  while  western  nations  were 
steeped  in  medisevalism  and  internecine  strife,  the  Chinese, 
under  their  Mongol  suzerain  lords,  carried  on  a  valuable 
trade  both  on  land  and  sea.  Vast  fleets  of  merchantmen 
vended  the  products  of  Chinese  art,  industry,  and  inven- 
tiveness in  the  regions  bordering  on  the  east  and  south 
coasts  of  Asia,  from  the  ice-bound  limits  north  of  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Premorsk  to  the  African  shores  of  the 
Red  Sea.  The  large  and  small  islands  of  the  adjacent 
waters  proved  excellent  markets  for  Chinese  sea-borne 
wares  long  before  the  daj^s  of  Vasco  da  Gama. 

Prior  to  this  period,  when  the  mastery  of  the  eastern 
seas  was  held  by  China  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  her 
external  trade,  the  Romans,  in  166  A.D.,  considered  it  to 
their  interest  to  open  up  business  relations  with  China, 
and  sent  an  ambassadorial  mission  for  that  purpose. 
These  intrepid  warrior-merchants  dared  all  the  fatigues 
and  dangers,  associated  in  those  days  with  travel  by  land 
and  sea,  to  facilitate  the  purchase  of  the  marketable  wares 
produced  in  China. 

This  mission,  which  seemingly  entered  China  from  the 
south,  somewhere  near  Canton,  seems  to  have  been  for 
the  time  a  failure  from  a  trade  point  of  view,  but  less 

222 


BUSINESS  CUSTOMS  223 

than  a  century  later,  through  the  agency  of  Persian 
and  Parthian  merchants,  Chinese  goods,  such  as  pearls, 
precious  stones,  and  the  finest  of  silk  and  cotton  fabrics, 
were  disposed  of  in  the  City  of  the  Western  Seas  (Rome), 
at  very  high  prices. 

The  great  Greek  merchant  monk,  Cosmas,  hands  down 
from  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  of  the  present  era 
records  of  the  maritime  trade  of  China  at  the  time  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire.  The  Moslem  power  seems  to  have 
been  the  means  of  destroying  the  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  two  greatest  of  the  early  commercial  Empires, 
Greece  and  China. 

The  principal  articles  concerning  which  one  can  find 
any  authentic  information,  and  which  indicate  the  nature  of 
such  business  relations,  are  the  potteries  and  porcelains, 
which,  found  in  Rome  and  other  cities,  display  the  handi- 
craft of  the  Chinese;  but  there  are  some  who  consider  that 
many  of  the  gold  ornaments  discovered  in  Italy  have  a 
Chinese  origin,  as  the  gold  contained  is  of  similar  colour  to 
that  found  native  in  China,  and  the  designs  are  certainly 
Chinese.  Arab  merchants,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  cen- 
turies, undoubtedly  learned  many  of  their  designs  in  gold 
work  from  the  Chinese,  the  style  being  quite  distinct 
from  the  early  Egyptian.  The  records  left  by  the  Arabs 
give  most  authentic  and  detailed  accounts  of  the  great 
trade  done  by  China  and  the  methods  pursued  by  Chinese 
merchants,  as  well  as  the  class,  value,  and  quality  of  goods 
generally  produced.  The  introduction  of  Mohammedan- 
ism was  due  to  the  Arab  traders  who,  originally  coming  to 
China  for  commerce,  formed  a  settlement  near  Hangchow 
Bay  and  were  killed  during  a  rising  or  became  absorbed 
in  the  race. 

The  overland  trade  of  China,  as  well  as  the  sea-borne 
traffic,  was,  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  of 


224  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

such  magnitude  that  it  attracted  the  attention  of  all  the 
known  writers  and  travellers  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and, 
thanks  to  them,  one  has  information  which  could  never  be 
obtained  from  Chinese  sources,  owing  to  the  Chinese  cus- 
tom of  withholding  or  destroying  it.  Great  as  the  external 
trade  undoubtedly  was  and  continues  to  be,  it  was  and 
is  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  internal  or  domestic 
commerce  of  the  Empire.  Such  trade  could  not  be  con- 
ducted on  the  "  happy-go-lucky "  principles  permeating 
the  ordinary  and  everyday  life  of  the  natives  of  China ; 
accordingly  commerce  evolved  business  principles  and 
business  instincts  surpassing  in  method  and  enterprise 
even  those  of  the  Jews. 

China  possesses  no  school  of  commerce  except  that  of 
experience,  and,  from  early  boyhood,  those  intended  for  a 
business  life  have  to  devote  a  number  of  hours  each  day 
to  the  trade  or  work  which  is  to  be  their  future  calling  ; 
but  such  training  is  not  given  at  the  expense  of  literary 
education,  it  is  in  addition  thereto.  These  youthful  ap- 
prentices seldom  during  their  apprenticeship  —  except, 
perhaps,  at  the  close  thereof — really  assist  in  the  running 
of  the  business,  but  simply  watch  and  instinctively  absorb 
the  system  adopted  by  their  superiors  or  masters.  To  this 
may  be  attributed  the  fact  that  for  so  many  years  China  has, 
in  business  matters  and  methods,  been  so  ultra-conserva- 
tive. There  is  nothing  to  encourage  the  initiation  of  new 
ideas  amongst  the  young.  All  dealings,  in  the  past  and 
at  the  present  day,  were  and  are  regulated  by  precedents, 
locally  called  "  olio  custom  "  ;  the  chief  and  most  far-reach- 
ing in  effect  of  all  these  customs  being  the  employment 
of  a  "  fostook  "  or  go-between,  a  character  who  enters  into 
every  possible  phase  of  life  in  China. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  Chinese  are  not  over-scrupulous 
in  their  business  dealings  amongst  themselves  or  with  for- 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  225 

eigners.  This,  however,  as  a  generalization,  is  a  mistake, 
chiefly  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  foreign  merchant  is 
so  keen  on  his  own  business  and  the  putting  through  of 
the  same.  He  is  further  handicapped  by  the  idea  that  it 
is  only  waste  of  time  to  study  the  Chinaman,  his  language, 
manners,  and  customs,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
no  other  way  to  understand  a  Chinaman's  ideas,  methods, 
and  requirements  ;  and,  accordingly,  everything  is  left  to 
the  fostook^  who  occasionally  brings  about  misunderstand- 
ings, the  Chinese  merchant,  in  consequence,  being  dubbed 
unscrupulous.  At  business  and  at  the  securing  of  the  best 
bargains  the  Chinese  merchant  is  a  much  keener  man  than 
many  a  foreign  merchant  with  whom  he  deals  directly  or 
indirectly.  If  the  Chinese  merchant  be  caught  practising 
methods  not  altogether  moral  in  business,  he  stands  to 
lose  "  good  chances  "  in  future  deals,  and  therefore  self- 
interest,  if  no  higher  motive,  induces  him  to  keep  his 
word  when  once  given.  As  an  illustration  of  the  correct 
dealing  of  the  Chinese,  should  an  authoritative  and 
properly  drawn-up  agreement  be  arranged  between  any 
one  and  a  Chinese  merchant,  by  which  the  latter  borrows 
a  sum  of  money,  large  or  small,  promising  to  repay  the 
same,  with  a  definite  rate  of  interest,  this  day  five  or  ten 
years,  at  a  definite  hour,  that  money  is  already  as  good 
as  returned  at  the  precise  time  and  date,  even  if  the 
borrower  should  be  dead.  This  comes  about  through 
the  two  great  ruling  principles  of  Chinese  daily  life,  — 
face  and  filial  piety  (misnamed  ancestor-worship),  com- 
bined with  the  responsibility  of  the  unit.  That  is  to 
say,  the  children  and  relatives  are  as  responsible  for 
the  fulfilment  of  a  properly  drawn-up  contract  as  would 
be  the  original  signer  ;  otherwise  the  latter  would  lose 
face  or  prestige  in  the  next  world,  and  the  immediate 
successors   and   the   subsequent  generations  would   also 

0 


226  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

come  in  for  loss  of  prestige.  Such  is  the  theory  ;  but 
occasionally  the  love  of  money  here  is  stronger  than  the 
fear  of  the  hereafter.  From  the  foregoing  it  may  be 
understood  that,  when  a  bargain  is  concluded,  the  Chinese 
thoroughly  appreciate  the  necessity  for  the  fulfilment  of 
their  obligations  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons 
why  the  commerce  of  China,  and  "  open  doors  "  thereto, 
has  been  made  a  ruling  diplomatic  subject. 

The  foreign  merchant  is  generally  sure  that  as  soon  as 
the  Chinese  merchant  takes  delivery  of  the  goods  shipped 
on  his  account,  so  soon  will  the  equivalent  therefor  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  trader  or  shipper. 

Sometimes  with  regard  to  payment  for  goods  ordered 
on  his  account  the  Chinese  merchant  cannot  restrain  his 
natural  commercial  instinct  or  love  of  bargaining,  and 
every  possible  argument  may  be  advanced  to  prove  why 
payment  should  be  deferred  and  the  delivery  postponed. 
Such  contentions,  however,  arise  out  of  circumstances 
unforeseen  when  the  bargain  was  originally  struck,  such 
as  a  narrowing  of  the  market  demand  for  the  particular 
goods  ordered,  or  an  unprecedented  fluctuation  in  the  rate 
of  exchange,  by  which,  if  the  merchant  accepted  delivery 
and  met  his  obligations, '  he  would  be,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  ruined.  Face  would  compel  him  to  fulfil  his 
contract,  even  to  his  ruin ;  but  the  foreign  merchant  or 
shipper,  if  enlightened  in  things  Chinese,  will  not  press 
hard  under  such  circumstances,  and  his  leniency  is  gener- 
ally rewarded  by  increased  business  with  that  customer, 
who  also  introduces  further  business  amongst  his  merchant 
friends  when  the  conditions  of  the  times  improve. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  chicanery,  attributed 
by  some  to  the  Chinese  merchant  in  his  business  relations, 
is  more  in  seeming  than  in  reality.  The  trade  of  China 
and  the  trading  instincts  of  the  Chinese,  combined  with  the 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  227 

business  principles  on  which  this  trade  is  conducted,  would 
seem  to  justify  the  Chinese  contention  that  their  coun- 
try is  in  a  forward  state  of  development  when  compared 
with  any  and  all  other  countries.  In  no  other  country  is 
the  constitution  of  trade  founded  on  such  simple  lines  as 
those  which  facilitate  the  interchange  of  commodities  in 
China,  and,  despite  this  simplicity,  nothing  is  forgotten 
which  would  tend  toward  the  protection  of  producer  and 
consumer.  This  is  brought  about  by  the  system  of  trade- 
unions  and  guilds.  The  truth  regarding  the  forward  con- 
dition of  the  more  simple  commercial  undertakings  in 
China  must  strike  all  those  who  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  and  carefully  noting  the  enormous  volume  of 
internal  trade,  and  the  facility  with  which  internal 
traffic  is  handled,  notwithstanding  the  lack  of  railways 
and  such  means  of  rapid  transit  as  are  now,  fortunately, 
being  pushed  rapidly  forward  through  foreign  enterprise 
and  through  the  political  influence  being  brought  to  bear 
at  Peking. 

The  transit  facilities  offered  by  the  vast  natural  water- 
ways and  the  numerous  artificial  canals  and  creeks  are 
utilized  in  such  a  simple  and  businesslike  manner  that 
enormous  quantities  of  goods  for  local  or  internal  consump- 
tion are  transported  with  the  greatest  ease  and  methodical 
preciseness  by  densely  laden  native  craft,  by  the  aid  of  a 
vast  amount  of  the  cheapest  labour  in  the  world  procured 
from  amongst  the  coolie  or  working  class.  The  business 
instincts  of  the  Chinese  tell  them  that,  when  time  is  no 
object,  heavily  laden  sailing  craft  are  more  economical 
means  of  transport  than  fast-going  steamers,  and  it 
also  tells  him  that  water  transit  is  always  more  eco- 
nomical than  land  transportation.  Water  transport  is  the 
usual  carrying  medium  in  the  coast  regions,  and  over 
the  districts  intersected  by  the  natural  waterways,  canals, 


228  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

and  creeks  of  south  and  mid  China  ;  where,  however, 
these  do  not  exist,  as  in  the  hill  country,  and  far  in 
the  interior  to  the  southwest,  west,  and  north,  other  means 
of  transport  are  adopted  according  to  the  prevailing  local 
conditions. 

As  the  coolie  is  the  cheapest  and  most  docile  carrier  of 
burdens,  strong  and  able  to  live  on  little,  taking  up  little 
space  and  requiring  no  comforts,  his  tissues  and  endurance 
are  utilized  to  the  fullest  extent,  under  varying  conditions 
and  methods  appropriate  to  those  conditions  for  effectually 
transporting  the  major  volume  of  internal  trade.  The 
single  man  with  a  bamboo  pole  and  goods  in  various-shaped 
baskets  slung  at  each  end  gives  place  on  occasion  to  the 
bamboo  carried  by  two  coolies  suspending  the  weight  of 
goods  between  them.  For  heavy  weights  a  large  number 
of  bearers  grouped  in  pairs  will  suspend  the  article  in 
transit  from  the  centre  of  a  number  of  these  bamboo 
poles.  Passing  from  this  stage,  one  gets  the  wheelbarrows 
of  different  descriptions,  so  intimately  associated  with  the 
name  of  China  and  the  Chinese.  There  may  be  seen, 
according  to  the  bulk  and  weight  of  the  articles  to  be 
wheeled,  one  man  shoving  the  barrow  without  assistance, 
or  the  wheeler  assisted  by  varying  numbers  of  pullers 
with  ropes  attached  to  the  front  bar  of  the  barrow.  It  is 
extraordinary  the  quantity  of  goods  that  can  be  trans- 
ported in  a  single  day,  to  great  distances,  by  this  seem- 
ingly primitive  method.  To  the  wheelbarrow  may  be 
added  the  single-man  handcart  with  two  wheels,  where  the 
man  is  again  assisted  by  a  number  of  pullers.  It  is  obvious 
that  both  the  wheelbarrow  and  handcart  methods  of  trans- 
port can  only  be  adopted  in  a  fairly  level  country  for  the 
transport  of  heavy  goods.  Another  method  is  the  pack- 
mule,  pack-donkey,  or  pack-pony,  and  the  methods  adopted 
for  the  packing  greatly  vary  in  different  districts.     Some 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  229 

simply  use  a  very  primitive  pack-saddle  made  of  young 
sapling  ash  or  oak,  bent  into  the  required  shape  by  steam- 
ing it  and  then  drawing  the  ends  in  toward  each  other  and 
tying  them  as  required.  These  U-shaped  crosspieces  are 
kept  at  the  required  distance  by  transverse  strips  attached 
thereto,  and  these  latter  act  as  the  guys  to  which  the  rop- 
ing is  attached.  The  pack-saddle  is  lifted  on  a  saddle- 
piece  made  of  solid  wood  shaped  to  the  form  of  the 
animal's  back,  and  lined  on  the  inside  with  straw  covered 
with  cotton  or  cloth.  In  other  places  the  pack-saddles  have 
attached  to  them  oval-shaped  baskets  two  feet  to  two 
feet  six  inches  in  depth,  and  two  feet  in  greatest  length, 
and  from  a  foot  to  eighteen  inches  in  greatest  width.  In 
these  baskets  are  packed  all  the  smaller  commodities,  while 
those  of  larger  bulk  are  stretched  athwart  the  animal,  and 
rest  on  top  of  the  baskets  so  as  to  equalize  the  weight. 
In  the  regions  round  about  Peking,  in  Shansi,  Shensi, 
Kansu,  and  from  the  Great  Wall  in  to  that  expanse  of 
country  stretching  to  the  north  through  Mongolia,  and 
northeast  through  Manchuria,  the  cart  is  found ;  some  carts 
drawn  by  a  single  pony,  mule,  or  donkey,  some  covered 
carts,  known  as  Peking  carts,  others  open.  Then  is  seen 
the  same  cart  with  animals  driven  tandem,  or  in  teams 
varying  in  number  in  accordance  with  the  extent  of  the 
burdens  or  the  difficulties  of  the  road.  Sometimes  in  these 
teams  one  may  see  ponies,  mules,  donkeys,  and  oxen  used 
indiscriminately  to  puU  the  one  cart.  When  going  up 
mountain  passes,  the  carters  assist  the  animals  by  levering 
on  the  wheels,  but  the  spectacle  of  a  caravan  climbing  a 
pass  or  steep  mountain  highroad  is  nothing  to  that  witnessed 
when  the  descent  is  being  made.  According  to  the  steep- 
ness of  the  road,  one,  two,  or  more  animals  are  unyoked 
and  brought  to  the  rear  of  the  cart,  where  ropes  are  at- 
tached to  the  shoulder  collars,  which  are  thus  dragged  up 


230  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

toward  and  grip  the  head  behind  the  ears.  The  animal 
is  made  to  sit  back  on  its  haunches,  and  is  dragged  for- 
ward by  the  rope,  and  of  course  tries  to  back  away  from 
such  treatment,  and  in  this  manner  is  improvised  a  primi- 
tive but  effective  brake,  preventing  the  cart  from  too 
rapidly  descending  the  steep  road. 

From  Chili  northward,  northwest,  and  northeast,  the 
camel  is  made  great  use  of,  the  droves  varying  from  half 
a  dozen  to  thirty  animals  according  to  the  resources  of  the 
owner.  In  Peking  large  droves  of  these  ungainly  but 
useful  beasts  of  burden  may  be  seen  bearing  large  baskets 
of  an  excellent  anthracite  coal  brought  in  from  the 
"Western  Hills." 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  primitive  methods 
of  transit  suitable  to  and  utilized  by  the  Chinese.  Trans- 
port is  conducted  as  a  regular  business  in  each  province 
and  district,  there  being  actual  carrying  companies  with 
large  vested  interests  in  the  business  of  transit,  that  for 
the  sake  of  these  vested  interests  oppose  most  strenuously 
all  foreign  innovations,  such  as  railway  enterprises,  which 
they  imagine  will  reduce  their  profits. 

These  carrying  interests  were  a  great  factor  in  giving 
the  Boxer  movement  of  1900  its  anti-foreign  tendency 
in  the  north  of  China,  as  that  was  the  portion  of  the 
country  most  affected  at  the  time  by  railways,  which  had 
not  then  begun  to  increase  subsidiary  traffic,  but  had 
absorbed  that  usually  carried  by  carts  or  similar  means. 

All  methods  for  facilitating  transit  have  such  a  direct 
bearing  upon  the  business  relations  and  enterprises  of  a 
country  that  some  knowledge  of  local  conditions  is 
necessary  in  order  to  understand  the  reasons  why  the 
already  vast  trade  is  not  vaster. 

It  may  be  taken  as  a  general  rule  that  junk  transport 
costs  the  shipper  2  to  4  cents  (Mexican)  per  ton  mile ;  by 


BUSINESS  CUSTOMS  231 

creek  boat,  towed,  4  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  hand-pro- 
pelled creek  or  shallow-draft  sailing  boats,  3  cents  per  ton 
mile  ;  by  coolie  carrier,  20  to  30  cents  per  ton  mile ;  by 
wheelbarrow,  15  to  20  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  handcart 
with  single  coolie,  12  to  15  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  hand- 
carts with  pullers,  12  to  15  cents  per  ton  mile ;  by  pack- 
donkey,  15  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  pack-mule,  8  cents  per 
ton  mile  ;  by  pack-pony,  10  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  large 
cart,  5  to  8  cents  per  ton  mile  ;  by  camel  caravan,  10  cents 
per  ton  mile. 

The  small  boats  on  creeks  carry  seldom  less  than  1| 
tons ;  coolie  carriers  can  bear  240  pounds  for  short 
distances ;  pack-animals  vary,  they  carry  from  150  to 
224  pounds  depending  on  the  animals  and  the  condition 
of  the  roads  or  paths  of  the  country.  I  have  sometimes 
seen  as  much  as  350  pounds  in  weight  packed  on  the 
large  and  sturdy  mules.  Peking  carts,  with  single  ani- 
mals, usually  carry  about  800  to  900  pounds,  but  over  half 
this  amount  may  be  added  for  each  additional  animal 
until  the  bulk  capacity  of  the  cart  is  reached.  The  large 
muleteer  carts  of  Mongolia  and  Manchuria,  sometimes 
seen  in  Chili,  have  an  average  capacity  for  1^  to  2  tons. 
The  camel  of  north  China  usually  transports  600  to  800 
pounds. 

As  much  as  one  ton  is  packed  on  the  wheelbarrows  in 
the  regions  round  Peking,  but  in  such  cases  the  pulling  is 
not  done  by  men,  but  by  two  donkeys,  one  mule,  or  one 
Chinese  pony,  and  even  by  bullocks,  and  the  man  between 
the  handles  has  an  ingenious  method  of  balancing  the 
barrow  with  a  strap  over  the  shoulders,  the  ends  of  which 
loop  on  to  the  handles,  thereby  taking  the  great  strain  off 
the  arms  and  hands. 

The  essential  principle  of  trade,  that  of  buying  in  the 
cheapest  market  and  selling  in  the  dearest,  is  ingrained  in 


232  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

the  mind  of  the  Chinese  to  a  point  of  fineness  perhaps 
beyond  the  skill  of  western  merchants ;  but  in  some  cases 
this  is  considerably  modified  amongst  this  conservative 
democratic  community,  and  in  particular  is  this  the  case 
in  the  power  exercised  upon  a  trader  by  an  old  and 
well-established  name  of  a  firm,  an  old  and  familiar  "chop" 
or  recognized  trade-mark  or  brand  on  goods.  The  power 
of  the  chop  and  of  the  old  firm  is,  however,  slowly 
disappearing  from  progressive  trade  in  China,  as  is  wit- 
nessed by  the  fact  that  the  long-established  trade  in  Man- 
chester piece-goods  such  as  drills,  jeans,  and  sheetings,  is 
gradually  giving  way  to  the  trade  in  similar  products  from 
the  United  States. 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  Chinese  are  usually 
guided  by  cheapness, and  that  term  "cheapness"  has  become 
the  all-alluring  chop  to  fascinate  the  commercial  instincts 
of  all  classes  of  native  merchants  in  the  Empire.  The 
Chinese  can  always  find  a  use  for  commodities  that  are 
brought  within  their  scope  by  cheapness.  One  often 
hears  the  term  in  China,  "  My  no  can  use,  my  no  savey  so 
fashion,"  but,  on  probing  for  information,  one  will  find 
that  the  commodity  can  be  used  by  the  Chinese,  but  it  is 
too  dear,  and  the  Chinese  does  not  like  to  say  so,  lest 
he  should  lose  face. 

Pay-days.  —  It  is  usual  for  foreigners  to  settle  all 
accounts  at  the  end  of  each  month,  but  the  native  merchant 
seldom  does  this  when  trading  with  his  own  countrymen. 
With  them  there  are  three  pay-days  in  the  year,  and  these 
days  are  not  identical  in  each  province,  except  the  great 
settling  day  of  the  Chinese  New  Year,  when  much  is 
pawned  or  mortgaged,  and  when  many  valuable  articles 
may  be  procured  at  a  fraction  of  their  cost  because  the  one 
pressed  for  money  must  meet  all  calls  upon  him.  Under 
this  long   credit,  or  three   pay-days'  system,  the   native 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  233 

broking  merchant  may  lie  out  of  his  goods'  equivalent  for 
five,  six,  or  even  seven  months,  although  in  the  treaty  port 
he  has  met  his  own  obligations,  veithin  five  days  of  taking 
delivery  of  foreign  goods.  Up-country  accounts  pass 
over  the  next  pay-day,  and  are  only  balanced  on  the 
second  pay-day.  If,  therefore,  the  goods  are  delivered 
to  an  up-country  trader  one  day  before  a  pay-day,  the 
vendor  has  only  to  wait  four  months  and  a  day  for  his 
equivalent ;  but  if  the  same  goods  be  delivered  one  day 
after  pay-day,  he  cannot  be  reimbursed  before  one  day 
short  of  eight  months.  This  system,  therefore,  of  long 
credits  tends  to  nullify  the  general  business  idea  of 
obtaining  profits  by  rapid  turnover,  and  must  hurt  trade 
generally. 

Although  the  purchasing  retailer  up  country  cannot  be 
called  upon  to  make  payments,  except  as  above  stated,  he 
has  the  option  of  paying  in  full  or  in  part  his  account 
before  the  appointed  date.  If  he  should  so  elect,  then  he 
is  entitled  to  interest  at  the  rate  of  one  and  one-fifth  per 
cent  fer  memem  on  the  amount  paid  in,  for  the  balance 
of  the  term  of  account.  This  is  a  hard  and  fast  regula- 
tion, emanating  from  the  "  Piece-Goods  Guild,"  and  rec- 
ognized not  only  by  all  engaged  in  that  trade,  but  by  other 
trades  and  trade-unions  as  well. 

Ready-money  sales  on  a  large  scale  are,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  unknown  to  the  Chinese  merchants,  except 
in  sales  over  the  counter  in  retail  transactions. 

Payments  as  a  rule  are  made  in  goods  of  native  or  local 
production  plus  a  cash  balance,  where  gombeenmen  or 
middlemen  are  the  actual  travelling  merchants.  And  in 
this  way  both  the  up-country  and  down-country  journeys 
are  made  to  yield  their  profits.  When,  however,  it  is  a 
particular  kind  of  merchant,  engaged  in  a  particular  line 
of  goods,  who  is  the  vendor,  and  he  has  no  interest  in 


234  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

bringing  goods  to  the  coast,  then  payments  by  native 
letters  of  credit  or  hard  sycee  are  made.  The  former  may 
be  arranged  through  native  banks  or  between  native 
merchants  whose  good  names  are  generally  known  far 
and  wide  throughout  the  country,  and  for  this  amongst 
other  reasons  their  letters  of  credit  are  accepted  <  freely, 
even  by  foreign  travellers  going  on  long  journeys  in  the 
interior.  So-called  "shoes  "  of  sycee  are  nothing  but  ingots 
of  silver  varying  in  weight  and  fineness ;  the  weight  called 
"  tael,"  or  Chinese  ounce,  varies  considerably  in  different 
provinces,  thus  enabling  the  bankers  to  secure  a  squeeze 
or  illegitimate  interest.  For  instance,  1000  yuping  taels 
are  only  the  equivalent  of  999^  huoping  taels  (or  goods 
balance  taels). 

Second  quality  silver  laopiaotsuse  is  the  medium  for 
payment  in  foreign  miscellaneous  goods  transactions,  but 
is  paid  as  an  equivalent  worth  on  the  huoping  balance. 

Fostooks  or  Go-betweeris.  —  As  the  Chinaman  dearly 
loves  bargaining  and  will  spend  hours,  days,  weeks, 
months,  even  years,  in  the  preliminaries  of  a  contract  over 
which  a  westerner  would  not  think  of  wasting  five 
minutes,  it  becomes  necessary  that  some  one,  who  can 
spare  time  and  knows  the  heckling  arts  to  a  nicety,  should 
be  employed  to  do  the  hard  talking  and  wasting  of  time, 
so  that  the  principals  may  be  left  to  carry  on  their  or- 
dinary vocations.  This  individual  is  the  go-between 
(^cMu  ch'ie,  or  meau  Jen)  and  acts  the  part  of  the  fostook 
in  countries  in  which  marriages  also  are  arranged  by  third 
parties. 

The  fostook  or  go-between  is  one  of  the  most  important 
personages  in  transactions  in  China  which  have  a  busi- 
ness aspect  of  any  kind,  and  he  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  gombeenman  or  middleman  trader.  As  his  name 
implies,  his  occupation  is  that  of  fostooking,  i.e.  seeking 


BUSINESS  CUSTOMS  235 

where  the  best  bargains  can  be  arranged  for  him  who 
wishes  to  dispose  of  any  particular  commodity,  and  for 
him  who  wishes  to  secure  the  same.  He  is  the  commercial 
traveller,  or  travelling  agent,  for  him  who  wishes  to  sell 
and  for  him  who  wishes  to  buy.  He  has  numerous  pa- 
trons' of  both  classes,  and  his  position  from  a  commercial 
standpoint  is  a  very  important  one  for  foreign  merchants 
and  agents  to  consider.  So  strong  indeed  has  his  position 
become  in  the  up-country  trade  of  China  that  the  go- 
betweens  have  formed  a  trade-union  of  their  own,  and 
their  demands  and  regulations  must  be  considered  by  all 
classes  of  native  trader,  if  not  by  officials.  Of  course  there 
avefostooks  of  different  classes,  but  it  is  only  the  mercantile 
bargainers  who  have  as  yet  formed  themselves  into  a 
union. 

Some  writers  have  given  the  go-between  the  position 
of  a  trading  middleman,  but  such  a  definition  is  very  far 
from  defining  his  calling.  He  is,  of  course,  a  commission 
agent,  but  his  commission  depends  on  a  definite  rate  of 
interest  arranged  with  his  patrons  and  only  payable, 
should  his  negotiations  end  in  a  successful  carrying 
through  of  a  business  deal,  whereas  the  gombeenman  may 
buy  the  goods  and  hawk  them,  until  a  purchaser  is  secured 
at  a  rate  which  the  former  considers  will  remunerate 
him  for  his  outlay  and  trouble.  As  a  rule  the  gombeen- 
man knows  his  market  before  he  makes  a  purchase,  but  at 
the  same  time  there  is  a  good  deal  of  risk  in  this  call- 
ing, whereas  the  fostook  only  risks  his  many  fares  while 
travelling  to  fix  a  bargain.  The  gombeenman  attends  auc- 
tions in  the  foreign  settlements  of  the  treaty  ports,  and 
thus  buys  goods  very  much  under  their  local  market  value 
and  vends  them  up  country  as  direct  purchases  from  the 
producers'  agents  in  the  treaty  ports. 

The  go-between  generally  starts  his  special  calling  in 


236  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

fixing  bargains  between  friends,  and  when  he  has  accu- 
mulated sufficient  capital  to  cover  travelling  expenses, 
he  broadens  his  field  of  labour,  by  which  time  he,  like  the 
broker  and  stock-jobber  in  countries  endowed  with 
western  civilization,  is  supposed  to  have  at  his  command 
all  information  regarding  the  particular  goods  with  which 
he  deals. 

He  does  not  appear  directly  in  ordinary  retail  business 
carried  on  between  his  friend  the  retailer  and  the  public 
customer.  Whenever  the  transaction  is  one  on  credit 
account,  the  fostook  is  called  in  by  his  friend  to  supply 
information  regarding  the  financial  soundness  of  the 
purchaser. 

It  may  be  taken  as  a  general  rule  that  the  fostook  con- 
fines himself  to  one  particular  line  of  goods,  concerning 
which  he  soon  acquires  an  expert  opinion.  Sometimes, 
however,  if  his  journeyings  carry  him  far  afield,  he 
becomes  a  canvasser  for  the  vending  of  one  class  of  up- 
country  products  and  one  class  of  down-country  com- 
modities. 

As  before  mentioned,  the  fostooJcs  work  on  commission, 
which  is  generally  secured  from  the  seller,  but  often  a 
cumshaw  is  paid  by  the  purchasing  side,  if  he  con- 
siders an  advantageous  bargain  has  been  struck  from  his, 
the  purchaser's,  point  of  view  ;  the  commission  is  the  first 
thing  arranged,  and  it  varies  from  two  and  one-half  to 
five  and  one-half  per  cent,  according  to  the  distance  sepa- 
rating the  buying  and  selling  markets  and  the  difficulties 
of  travel. 

The  go-between  is  in  fact  commission  agent  or  com- 
mercial traveller  and  acts  the  part  of  the  advertising 
columns  of  foreign  press  mediums,  since  he  too  always  has 
first-hand  information,  relative  to  time  and  place  of  land- 
ing of  the  particular  goods  with  which  he  is  directly  con- 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  237 

cerned,  the  place  where  they  may  be  purchased,  and  that 
where  they  may  be  ultimately  marketed.  As  they  depend 
entirely  for  income  upon  the  result  of  putting  through  a 
deal,  they  are  as  a  class  undoubtedly  the  keenest  business 
men  in  China,  and  their  opinion,  if  obtainable,  is  always 
worth  having.  Although  familiar  with  their  known 
abilities,  foreigners  have  directly  utilized  this  class  of 
Chinese  very  little  for  pushing  new  wares  into  the  in- 
terior, and  this  is  mainly  owing  to  the  fact  that  their 
occupation  and  trade  status  is  altogether  misunderstood 
by  western  merchants  and  manufacturers. 

Of  course  both  sides  are  liable  to  be  duped  by  the  fos- 
took  as  to  the  quaUty  of  the  goods  to  be  vended  on  the  one 
side,  and  as  to  the  credit  and  financial  ability  of  the  pur- 
chasing merchant  on  the  other;  but,  as  such  malpractice 
can  only  yield  temporary  gain,  the  far-seeing  instinct  of 
the  fostook  doing  a  large  trade,  keeps  him  straight 
through  self-interest,  if  through  no  higher  motive. 

Doolittle,  in  this  connection,  says  :  "  The  go-between, 
by  coming  to  a  private  understanding  with  the  buyer,  is 
able  sometimes,  by  dint  of  plausible  prevarication  or 
downright  lying,  to  make  more  money  for  himself  than 
the  sum  to  which  his  regular  commission  or  percentage 
would  amount."  This  statement  would  undoubtedly  be 
true  in  cases  of  isolated  bargains,  but  where  transactions 
can  be  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  commercial  business, 
then  the  risk  of  losing  face  and  ultimate  profits  on  con- 
tinuous bargains,  tends  to  legitimate  practice  on  the  part 
of  the  go-between  where  the  commission  agreed  upon  is 
the  only  remuneration. 

Doolittle,  in  condemning  the  fostook  or  go-between  sys- 
tem, advances  the  argument,  amounting  to  a  general  asser- 
tion, that  "  the  buyer  is  particularly  liable  to  be  duped 
by  the  go-between  through  the  complicity  of  the  seller, 


238  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

provided  the  go-between  thinks  he  can  practise  the  decep- 
tion without  the  probability  of  detection,"  but  he  immedi- 
ately gives  a  reason  militating  against  the  general  practice 
of  such  deception,  in  the  following  words  :  "A  regard  to 
their  reputation  and  the  prospect  of  future  employment 
by  the  principals,  doubtless,  often  has  a  great  restraining 
influence  over  the  middlemen  who  are  tempted  to  dupe 
and  defraud." 

From  his  mixing  up  the  position  of  the  middleman  (a 
trader)  and  the  go-between  (an  arranger  of  bargains),  it  is 
evident  that  Doolittle  did  not  pay  the  attention  to  the 
customs  and  practice  of  these  people  which  he  generally 
bestowed  on  subjects  of  commercial  and  general  interest 
in  China. 

At  the  present  time  the  foreign  principal  and  the  native 
principal  seldom  or  never  come  in  contact  in  connection 
with  a  commercial  transaction,  all  negotiations  being 
carried  on  by  the  chief  fostook  of  the  foreigner,  dignified 
by  tRe  name  of  compradore,  and  his  satellites  of  the  one 
part,  and  the  fostook,  or  commercial  traveller  or  bargainer, 
of  the  native  merchant  of  the  other  part. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  fostook  system  is  that  the  native 
or  foreign  importer  is  absolutely  under  the  thumb  of  the 
"associated  go-betweens"  who  in  reality  form  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  commercial  travellers'  union,  so 
powerful  in  organization  that  its  members  can  bring  influ- 
ence to  bear  on  provincial  officials  to  oppose  the  opening 
up  of  further  treaty  towns.  They  are  quite  aware  that 
the  more  this  class  of  towns  is  opened  up  the  less  will 
become  their  influence  in  arranging  bargains  at  a  distance, 
and  this  is  at  present  their  most  remunerative  employ- 
ment. 

The  importers  must  directly  or  indirectly  concede  the 
demands  made  by  the  associated  go-betweens,  otherwise  it 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  239 

would  be  rendered  more  difficult  for  them  to  secure  a 
market  for  their  wares  at  any  reasonable  profit.  That 
is  not  always  apparent  to  foreign  merchants,  owing  to 
the  roundabout  methods  adopted  by  the  Chinese  in  all 
dealings  and  transactions. 

By  the  law  of  custom  the  go-between  is  held  responsi- 
ble for  any  trouble  that  may  ensue  out  of  a  bargain  trans- 
acted through  him,  but  —  and  this  is  unusual  in  China  — 
responsibility  is  closed  with  the  grave.  If  his  responsi- 
bilities are  heavy  and  almost  ceaseless,  the  fostook  finds 
compensation  in  the  power  he  wields  for  developing  or 
crippling  the  trade  of  both  foreigners  and  natives  in 
China. 

Trade  Exclusion.  —  In  business  and  commercial  matters 
foreign  traders  and  merchants  have  themselves  to  blame 
to  a  considerable  degree  for  the  impasse  at  which  matters 
regarding  export  and  import  trade  have  arrived.  The 
European  as  a  trader  is  undoubtedly  distrusted,  though 
in  the  case  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  this  distrust  is  not  so 
plain.  The  methods  pursued  by  the  early  Portuguese 
traders,  and  later  by  the  Dutch,  were  anything  but 
creditable  to  the  citizens  of  their  countries,  and  contrib- 
ute to  the  contempt  which  the  Chinese  displays  for  the 
European.  Referring  to  the  effect  of  this  conduct  Sir 
John  Davis  says :  "  To  this  day  the  character  of  the 
European  is  represented  as  that  of  a  race  of  men  intent 
alone  on  the  gains  of  commercial  traffic  and  regardless 
altogether  of  the  means  of  attainment.  Struck  by  the 
perpetual  hostilities  which  existed  among  these  foreign 
adventurers,  assimilated  in  other  respects  by  close  resem- 
blance in  their  costumes  and  manners,  the  government  of 
the  country  became  disposed  to  treat  them  with  a  degree 
of  jealousy  and  exclusion  which  it  had  not  deemed  neces- 
sary to  be  exercised  toward  the  more  peaceable  and  well- 


240  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ordered  Arabs,  their  predecessors."  It  may  not  be 
over-flattering  to  Europeans  to  be  compared  with  Arabs, 
and  if  European  conduct  was  on  a  lower  grade  than 
that  of  the  Arab,  there  must  be  some  justification  for 
the  policy  of  exclusion  and  anti-foreignism  pursued  by  the 
Chinese  from  the  government  downward.  At  the  same 
time  the  benefits  of  exclusion  fade  completely  before  the 
injury  to  such  a  business  community  as  the  Chinese  in 
their  most  vital  spot,  namely,  the  mutual  exchange  market 
on  which  the  commercial  life  of  a  nation  depends. 

It  was  the  present  Manchu  dynasty  which  inaugurated 
the  policy  of  exclusion,  and  it  is  the  same  governing  body 
which  is  responsible  for  the  continuation  of  antagonism 
to  the  introduction  of  foreign  goods  and  foreign  ideas. 
One  reason  advanced  in  explanation  of  this  narrow-minded 
policy  is  that  of  self-preservation.  The  Manchus  are 
afraid  that  one  or  another  of  the  foreign  nations  may, 
through  the  name  of  trade  expansion,  gain  by  this  sub- 
terfuge the  comjDlete  mastery  over  China,  just  as  the 
present  dynasty  secured  the  dragon  throne  for  itself 
through  pretending  to  put  down  anarchy  on  behalf  of 
the  weak  ruler  who  then  occupied  that  throne. 

A  just  appreciation  of  Chinese  ideas  and  susceptibilities 
in  business  dealings  may  go  a  long  way  to  combat  the 
policy  of  exclusion,  and  establish  commerce  on  a  friendly 
and  business  footing,  thereby  nullifying  what  might  be 
termed  the  existing  armed  truce  and  rSgime  of  mutual 
suspicion. 

Many  of  the  crimes  attributed  to  the  Portuguese,  which 
resulted  in  the  birth  of  anti-foreign  feeling  and  exclu- 
sion, were  really  perpetrated  by  the  half-caste  children 
of  the  early  Portuguese  settlers.  To  these  Eurasians' 
habit  of  raiding,  in  large  parties,  the  neighbouring  villages 
and  seizing  the  women  and  virgins  whom  they  carried  to 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  241 

their  homes,  may  be  attributed  the  anti-foreign  flame  of 
1545,  which  consumed  eight  hundred  Portuguese  and  over 
ten  thousand  native  Christians  associated  with  the  Portu- 
guese and  their  half-caste  progeny. 

Neither  the  central  government,  nor  the  provincial 
governments,  can  continually  oppose  the  will  of  the  people 
once  combined  for  a  certain  purpose,  although  such  gov- 
ernments may  succeed  in  diverting  the  path  of  any  move- 
ment and  thereby  minimize  the  effect.  What  is  true  in 
general  is  true  in  trade,  and  if  the  Chinese  should  be  con- 
ciliated by  those  intending  to  transact  business  with  them, 
the  door  of  exclusion  would  soon  be  battered  down. 

Exclusion  does  not  affect  the  foreign  trader  alone,  but 
is  inter-provincial  if  not  inter-prefectural  in  effect.  If  an 
intelligent  Chinese  conceives  an  idea  of  starting  some  new 
industry  in  a  province  to  which  he  actually  has  no  blood 
tie,  he  is  unable  to  get  a  footing  until  he  has  conciliated 
local  prejudices  by  interesting  some  of  the  natives  of  the 
district  in  the  shares  and  possible  profits  of  his  enterprise. 
If  this  can  occur  amongst  the  Chinese  themselves,  what 
chance  has  the  foreigner  who  does  not  know  it  is  worth 
his  while  to  win  local  prejudice  or  opinion  to  his  side  by 
interesting  local  natives  of  influence  in  his  undertaking  ? 
The  engagement  of  local  compradores  is  not  enough  to 
break  down  the  barrier  of  local  exclusion,  and  until 
foreigners  understand  this,  the  policy  of  exclusion  will 
continue.  The  foreign  trader  first  thinks  of  the  risk  and 
of  the  amount  he  stands  to  lose  on  a  transaction,  but  the 
first  thought  of  the  Chinese  is,  "  What  is  this  going  to 
be  worth  to  me  ?  "  When  he  sees  a  factory  going  up,  for 
any  purpose  whatsoever,  he  says,  "  How  much  am  I  going 
to  get  out  of  this  ?  "  If  nothing,  then  the  foreigner  or  the 
native  from  other  districts  must  be  excluded  by  fair  means 
or  foul.      All  foreigners  who  wish  to  succeed  in  China 


242  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

must  learn  to  "  maintain  the  local  interest " ;  they  must 
graft  their  new-fangled  ideas  on  the  ancient  Chinese 
customs. 

Trade-unions.  —  Trade-unions  were  a  natural  outcome 
of  loan  clubs  or  loan  associations,  as  the  latter  taught  the 
Chinese  the  power  wielded  by  combinations.  Unions  or 
associations  are  generally  grouped  under  the  term  "  Awwz," 
or  "  ?mi,'"  the  special  trade  or  calling  being  prefixed 
thereto. 

Such  unions  are  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  mini- 
mizing output  and  crippling  employers  as  for  regulating 
conditions  and  prohibiting  oppression.  Masters  and  men 
frequently  belong  to  the  same  trade-union,  and  by  so 
doing  minimize  the  chances  of  aggression  which  might 
tend  to  the  injury  of  the  interests  of  either  master  or 
servants.  They  will  combine  to  boycott  a  newcomer  in 
the  same  class  of  trade  if  he  should  come  from  another 
district  or  province,  and  more  particularly  if  the  new- 
comer be  the  citizen  of  a  foreign  nation.  If,  however, 
the  local  interest  is  maintained  by  strong  local  officials, 
gentry  or  merchants  being  induced  to  take  part,  then 
these  unions  assist  the  new  venture  and  newcomer. 

A  striking  incident  in  this  connection  was  the  starting 
of  the  bean-oil  and  bean-cake  mills  at  Newchwang,  where 
the  Cantonese,  understanding  the  customs  of  their  own 
country,  were  enabled  to  initiate  and  establish  this  re- 
munerative industry  by  encouraging  local  Chinese  and 
local  Manchus  to  take  a  monetary  interest  in  the  under- 
takings. As  a  set-ofP  against  their  success,  take  another 
incident :  a  certain  foreign  firm  of  shippers  and  agents  tried 
to  establish  a  mill  on  modern  principles,  and  all  figures  con- 
cerning it  went  to  prove  its  ultimate  financial  success  ;  no 
local  interests  were,  however,  considered  worth  concili- 
ating, and  what   was  really  established   was   not  a  sue- 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  248 

cessful  oil  mill,  but  a  successful  boycott  by  the  bean-cake 
workers'  union. 

Another  incident  was  that  of  a  canning  establishment 
at  Chinkiang,  where  no  local  interests  were  taken  into 
consideration,  and  as  game,  canned  or  fresh,  is  relished  by 
the  wealthy  and  ofiBcial  Chinese,  this  business,  from  figures 
regarding  possible  and  probable  consumers,  should  have 
showed  a  very  rosy  complexion  ;  but  what  was  the  result  ? 
With  no  local  interest  considered,  the  local  markets  were 
barred  to  the  products,  and  the  materials  for  canning  were 
sold  at  a  price  far  higher  than  need  have  been  paid  had 
local  sentiment  been  softened  in  a  Chinese  way.  Need- 
less to  say,  the  company  is  not  now  canning  at  Chinkiang. 
Such  incidents  will  necessarily  besmirch  with  failure  the 
page  of  foreign  enterprise  in  China,  until  the  foreigners 
engaged  in  commerce  and  industrial  enterprise  within  the 
Empire  cease  to  think  in  an  insular  manner  of  commercial 
matters  and  study  the  requirements  and  characteristics  of 
the  Empire  —  the  greatest  commercial  and  business  com- 
munity in  the  world. 

All  persons  engaged  in  one  class  of  business  are  obliged, 
not  by  law  but  by  custom,  to  join  the  union  of  that  special 
trade  and  be  subject  to  all  its  regulations.  Should  a 
newcomer  on  starting  business  fail  to  enter,  or  refuse 
to  pay  forfeit  for  violations  of  the  union's  rules,  he  would 
be  hampered  in  all  his  transactions  in  many  directions. 
The  special  union  would  communicate  with  the  employees' 
union,  and  the  newcomer  would  find  himself  faced- with 
the  petty  annoyance  of  his  shop-hands  or  workmen  leav- 
ing him  one  by  one  just  as  they  were  getting  into  the 
run  of  the  business,  and  to  save  himself  from  ruin  he  would 
have  to  join  the  union.  The  various  journeymen,  tailors, 
wheelwrights,  carpenters,  boatmen,  carters,  etc.,  all  com- 
bine in   their   separate   trade-unions  to  fix   the  price  of 


244  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMEKCB 

labour,  etc.  This  is  particularly  felt  in  the  building  trades 
of  the  treaty  ports  and  foreign  settlements,  as  the  labourers 
work  hand  in  hand  with  the  building  materials  merchant 
and  thereby  keep  up  the  cost  of  building.  This  is 
to  their  personal  advantage,  as  they  are  paid  very  much 
according  to  the  class  of  architecture  and  the  materials 
used  in  construction. 

The  traveller  in  China,  if  he  understands  Chinese,  is 
generally  struck  by  the  uniformity  in  the  prices  prevail- 
ing throughout  a  town  or  even  a  district.  The  cost  of 
certain  commodities  is  just  the  same  in  a  large  general 
store  as  in  a  small  trader's  shop,  but  the  explanation  is 
simple  enough,  since  all  prices  are  fixed  by  the  local 
union,  and  all  traders  in  the  same  class  of  goods  must 
belong  to  the  union.  Another  thing  which  puzzles  the 
stranger  is  that,  when  trying  to  bargain  in  a  native  shop, 
he  is  met  by  a  stolid  refusal,  but  that  after  dark  some 
one  quietly  goes  to  his  residence  or  temporary  location 
and  sends  in  the  article,  asking  the  price  offered  by 
the  would-be  purchaser.  The  reason  for  this  is  that 
when  a  stranger  goes  to  any  shop  or  warehouse  in  any 
part  of  China,  he  or  she  is  usually  followed  by  a  gang  of 
idlers,  whose  only  business,  it  would  seem,  is  to  satisfy  at 
any  cost  their  extraordinary  faculty  for  idle  curiosity. 
Where  there  are  so  many  listeners,  there  are  bound  to  be 
a  number  of  talkers  and  tale-bearers,  and  the  price  he  or 
she  offers  for  the  goods  and  the  price  he  or  she  pays  for 
them  is  straightway  disclosed  to  the  other  members  of  the 
same  union.  If  the  trader  should  have  squeezed  a  high 
price  from  the  stranger,  he  is  considered  to  be  a  good  man 
of  business  by  his  trade  fraternity ;  but  if  he  sell  below  the 
agreed-upon  price  of  the  union,  then  he  sees  looming  before 
him  seats  at  the  theatre  for  all  members  of  the  union,  or  a 
dinner  at  the  best  restaurant  in  the  town ;  in  either  case  all 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  245 

the  expenses  coming  from  his  exchequer.  His  anxiety  to 
sell,  however,  makes  him  risk  the  rules  of  the  union  when, 
after  dark,  there  is  little  chance  of  his  being  found  out  as, 
should  the  goods  be  detected  on  the  way  to  your  house, 
all  he  has  to  say  is  that  he  is  trying  to  induce  your 
servant  to  obtain  a  fair  price  from  you. 

In  many  trades  the  prices  of  articles  or  labour,  fixed  by 
the  unions,  are  either  written  or  printed,  and  then  posted 
in  the  various  shops  or  workshops  coming  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  special  union,  and  the  head  of  the  shop  or 
workshop  can  always  refer  to  them  when  pressed  to  reduce 
his  price. 

At  stated  intervals,  generally  every  three  or  four  months, 
all  interested  in  a  union  meet  together  in  some  restaurant, 
temple,  or  theatre  and  discuss  all  matters  relating  to  their 
business  and  alter  their  rules  if  change  be  found  necessary. 
At  the  meetings  there  is  always  a  feast,  the  expenses  of 
which,  together  with  those  of  devotions  to  a  particular 
god  or  goddess  interested  in  their  special  trade,  and  of 
attendance  at  a  theatrical  performance,  are  defrayed  out 
of  the  pooled  fines  of  such  as  have  broken  the  rules  of  the 
union ;  and  if  these  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  calls,  then 
the  funds  from  members'  subscriptions  defray  the  balance. 
Each  trade-union  has  its  committee  and  executive  officers, 
who  keep  a  tally  of  all  information  that  is  likely  to  affect 
the  special  trade,  and  when  matters  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance arise,  special  general  meetings  are  called  at  which 
the  committee  are  instructed  how  to  act  and  what  public 
notices  to  issue.  Sometimes  the  executive  officers  of  three 
or  four  unions  meet  to  discuss  matters  which  may  affect 
directly  the  collective  interests  of  all,  after  which  a  special 
general  meeting  is  called  of  each  union,  and  the  result  of 
the  general  executive  consultation  laid  before  the  various 
members  of  each  union  for  approval,  etc. 


246  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 

From  the  very  fact  that  proprietors,  foremen,  and  work- 
men, engaged  in  a  particular  line  of  business,  all  belong 
to  the  one  union,  the  effect  must  naturally  be  a  benefiting 
of  that  trade,  and  a  tendency  to  minimize  the  possibility 
of  disputes  between  capital  and  labour,  so  common  in  west- 
ern countries  ;  and  as  a  final  result,  there  is  very  little 
chance  of  the  dislocation  of  general  trade  through  such 
agencies  as  strikes,  except  in  places  where  the  natives 
have  absorbed  into  their  system  the  worst  traits  of  the 
westerners.  An  instance  of  this  was  given  in  the  great 
wheelbarrow  strike  and  riot  in  Shanghai.  Had,  however, 
any  of  the  municipal  council's  employees,  understanding 
Chinese,  belonged  to  the  wheelbarrow  union  as  "  master 
members,"  then  the  strike  would  have  been  minimized  in 
effect,  if  not  smoothed  over  on  an  amicable  understanding. 

Business  Associations. — For  centuries,  in  business  as 
in  all  other  phases  of  life,  the  Chinese  have  taken  the  lead 
in  what  in  the  twentieth  century  are  called  "combines." 
These  combines,  though  of  simpler  organization,  are  as 
efficacious  in  the  commercial  life  of  China  as  are  the 
"  trusts  "  in  that  of  western  nations.  They  are  not  digni- 
fied by  the  high-sounding  name  of  "  trust,"  but  are  rather 
simply  known  as  hwui  or  "associations,"  and  it  is  the  am- 
bition of  every  man,  woman,  or  child  to  be  interested  in 
one  or  other  of  these  associations. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  associations  is  the 
"  money  loan  association."  These  money  loan  associations 
are  not  friendly  societies,  but  friendly  clubs,  where  mutual 
help  is  the  predominating  factor  which  counteracts  the 
tendency  to  consider  interest  on  every  possible  occasion. 
These  clubs  are  usually  formed  of  a  limited  number  of 
friends  and  relatives  of  a  Chinese  who  has  got  into  tem- 
porary money  difficulties,  or  requires  the  immediate  use 
of  a  definite  amount  of  money,  not  immediately  at  his 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  247 

command,  in  order  to  put  through  a  good  piece  of  busi- 
ness, without  having  to  pay  any  interest  on  the  money 
borrowed. 

The  membership  of  the  club  depends,  first,  on  the  sum 
of  money  required  by  the  borrower,  and  secondly,  on  the 
resources  of  his  associates.  If,  for  instance,  the  bor- 
rower desires  the  immediate  use  of  a  clear  $1000,  and  his 
friends  can  afford  to  put  up  $100  each,  then  the  member- 
ship would  be  of  eleven  associates,  but  if  they  can  only  put 
up  $25  each,  then  the  membership  will  be  of  forty-one  asso- 
ciates. Forty  members  would  apparently  put  up  the 
required  $1000  in  $25  shares,  but  this  would  not  be  the 
case  in  reality,  as  the  borrower  wants  the  immediate  use 
of  a  clear  $1000,  and  he  does  not  himself  subscribe  at  all 
at  the  first  drawing.  Therefore  there  must  always  be  the 
extra  man  to  make  the  sum  a  clear  round  amount.  The 
man  in  immediate  need  of  funds  notifies  his  friends  that 
he  is  about  to  start  a  loan  association,  and  gives  the 
capitalization  of  the  shares  he  wishes  to  issue,  and  the 
number  thereof.  If  the  friend  accepts  the  membership 
offered  him,  he  is  presented  with  a  pass-book  containing 
all  details  of  the  association,  capital,  number  of  members, 
amounts  and  dates  of  payments,  drawings,  etc.  A  book  of 
the  same  class,  but  on  a  more  detailed  scale,  is  retained  by 
the  organizing  borrower,  who  is  de  facto  the  head  or  chair- 
man of  the  association,  and  in  his  book  a  complete  page  is 
devoted  to  the  account  of  each  member,  as  well  as  a  page  to 
each  meeting  of  the  association  and  the  business  conducted 
thereat. 

So  universal  are  money-lending  associations  of  every 
class  that  paper  merchants  consider  it  worth  their  while 
to  keep  large  stocks  of  account-books  suitable  for  any 
and  all  such  classes  of  borrowings.  They  have  a  yel- 
low cover,   with   space   in  the  middle  for  filling  in  the 


248  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMEKCE 

date  underneath,  which  is  printed,  "  Started  on  the  lucky 
day,"  a  space  being  left  for  filling  in  the  name  of  this 
day,  while  at  the  left-hand  side  is  marked  off,  with  red 
lines,  a  space  for  filling  in  the  name  of  the  associated 
member.  The  books  begin  with  the  printed  regulations  of 
each  particular  case  according  to  the  particular  class  or 
amount  of  loan,  and,  with  the  statement  of  its  origin, 
leaving  thereafter  space  for  inserting  any  particular  rule 
agreed  upon  between  the  associates.  These  spaces  are 
cancelled  or  filled  in  at  the  conclusion  of  the  first  meeting. 

The  loan  associations  usually  hold  their  meetings  once 
every  moon  or  Chinese  month,  but  sometimes  they  only 
hold  them  on  the  lucky  days  occurring  every  four  moons. 
Big  borrowers  generally  arrange  for  annual  meetings, 
while  amongst  the  poorer  classes,  or  "  cash  "  loan  associa- 
tions, the  meetings  are  generally  weekly  or  fortnightly. 

The  originator  or  chairman  of  the  association,  being  the 
one  in  immediate  want  of  funds,  draws  the  full  amount  of 
the  subscriptions  collected  at  the  first  meeting,  which, 
he  arranges,  shall  meet  the  actual  sum  he  immediately 
requires.  At  subsequent  meetings  each  or  any  of  the 
members  has  the  right  of  drawing  or  borrowing,  provided 
he  has  not  previously  drawn  from  the  association.  There 
are  three  methods  by  which  such  drawings  can  be  ar- 
ranged :  (1)  by  seniority  ;  (2)  by  lottery  ;  (3)  by  bid- 
ding for  the  right.  This  latter  is  the  most  popular  and 
most  convenient  to  the  members,  as  it  enables  the  one 
most  in  need  of  funds  to  outbid  his  associates.  And  this, 
though  the  loans  are  supposed  to  be  without  interest, 
actually  gives  such  a  return,  small   though   it   may  be. 

The  bidder  does  not  actually  hand  over  the  hard  cash 
of  his  bid,  and  the  bidding  is  not  conducted  like  an 
auction,  but  each  one  puts  a  written  statement  of  his  bid 
in  an  envelope,  and  these  envelopes  are  opened  by  the 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  249 

chairman,  who  announces  the  name  of  the  highest  bidder 
and  the  amount  of  the  bid.  As  previously  indicated, 
the  originator  need  not  bid,  and  if  the  agreed  loan  is 
•$1000,  he  receives  the  full  amount  then  ;  if  there  are 
eleven  members,  ten  have  each  to  pay  in  his  $100.  At 
the  second  meeting,  should  the  highest  bid  on  paper  be 
$5,  then,  though  the  successful  bidder  is  responsible  for 
the  return  of  f  1000  in  ten  instalments  of  $100  each,  he 
only  receives  $995,  the  $5  being  equally  divided  as  a 
reduction  in  the  amount  to  be  subscribed  by  each.  The 
same  system  is  practised  at  each  of  the  subsequent  draw- 
ings. If  $5  is  the  bid  at  each  of  the  subsequent  meet- 
ings, except  the  last  where  the  drawer  has  no  one  to 
bid  against  but  himself,  he,  the  last  drawer,  has  to  pay,  in 
all,  the  first  drawing  of  $100,  and  nine  drawings  of  $99.50, 
or,  in  all,  $995.50  for  a  borrowed  $1000. 

It  simplifies  the  whole  seemingly  intricate  system  if 
one  considers  that  each  member,  except  the  head,  lends  to 
every  one  else,  and  all,  including  the  head,  borrow  from 
the  other  members.  The  uses  of  such  clubs  will  be  fully 
appreciated  when  once  the  benefits  they  confer  on  some 
one  hard  up  or  pressed  for  money,  who  would  be  too  proud 
to  ask  or  receive  a  loan  from  a  friend,  are  thoroughly  under- 
stood. Many  friends  and  relations  may  be  relied  upon  for 
such  club  assistance  who  would  think  any  other  form  of 
loan  a  degrading  charity.  These  loan  clubs  or  Ye  Swui 
must  not  be  confounded  with  mercantile  associations  or 
capitalists'  associations. 

The  capitalists'  associations  are  similar  to  American 
trusts  and  have  held  sway  in  China  since  the  Mongol 
dynasty.  They  are  evidently  an  outcome  of  early  similar 
associations  formed  amongst  the  ancient  Mongolian  princes 
to  develop  their  separate  and  mutual  interests  while  shar- 
ing the  risks.     In   Mongolia  all   the   peasants  owe   vas- 


250  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

salage  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to  these  more  or  less 
powerful  princes.  The  vassalage  is  generally  taken  out 
in  service  or  labour,  and  all  the  labour  or  service  capital, 
so  to  speak,  is  associated  under  each  prince.  When  any 
particular  work  or  fighting  had  or  has  to  be  done  b}^  a 
prince,  then  the  friendly  neighbouring  princes  cooperate 
with  him,  until  the  work  in  hand  is  completed,  and  he  in 
turn  gives  his  assistance  to  each  of  the  other  princes  in  the 
association  as  required.  In  this  way  this  capitalists'  associ- 
ation works  like  the  Ye  Hwui^  and  enables  each  prince 
to  call  for  labour  as  his  crops  ripen  or  require  planting. 
This  kind  of  affiliation  pays  exceedingly  well. 

Capitalists'  associations  are  frequently  called  into  being 
by  high  officials  when  taxes  fall  short  of  the  required 
amount,  the  local  treasury  being  one  party  to  the  associ- 
ation, and  the  Peking  requirements  are  thereby  settled  in 
bulk  without  pinching  the  local  resources.  These  same 
capitalists'  associations  frequently  found  banks  and  large 
operative  and  cooperative  undertakings  in  trade. 

On  the  other  hand,  mercantile  associations  generally 
concentrate  their  attention  and  resources  on  the  marketing 
of  goods.  The  members  are  generally  wealthy  men,  who 
are  not  usually  engaged  in  commerce  but  who  continually 
watch  the  general  trend  of  supply  and  demand  in  various 
markets.  Suddenly  there  is  a  lot  of  visiting  between 
them,  a  dinner  and  the  details  of  subscribing  a  large  sum 
are  arranged,  and  the  association  thus  formed  starts  buy- 
ing through  its  fostook  or  go-between  a  certain  class  of 
goods,  chartering  junks  through  another  fostooJc,  and 
finally  placing  such  goods  on  a  certain  market,  where 
there  is  a  large  demand.  On  occasions  these  mercantile 
associations  are  most  charitable.  I  have  witnessed  occa- 
sions when  famine  has  resulted  from  drought  and  excessive 
floods,  and   then   one   or   another   of    these   associations 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  251 

corners  the  market  of  cereals  and  other  produce  in 
districts  where  these  are  plentiful,  and  ships  them  to  the 
area  of  distress,  there,  instead  of  trying  to  sell  at  fabulous 
prices,  which  necessity  would  compel  the  sufferers  to  pay, 
the  association  frequently  sacrifices  the  goods  at  a  loss, 
though  it  would  be  considered  degrading  to  the  recipient 
if  the  goods  were  actually  given  away  in  charity. 

When,  however,  single  individuals  send  food-stuffs  to 
the  scenes  of  distress,  they  invariably  take  advantage  of 
the  local  difficulties  to  benefit  their  purse. 

To  such  an  extent  does  the  club  system  go  that  one  can 
see,  all  over  China,  poor  farmers  clubbing  their  meagre 
funds  to  buy  an  ox,  which  is  to  be  used  in  turn  for  tilling 
their  land  or  turning  the  millwheel.  The  turn  is  arranged 
by  drawing  lots,  each  member  dropping  out  of  the  draw 
after  his  turn,  until  the  animal  has  completed  the  wholej 
circle  of  owners.  Carrying  coolies  will  club  together  to 
do  the  business  for  a  certain  district,  unless  they  and  the 
district  are  run  as  a  business  by  head-men.  Many  are  the 
towns  in  which  certain  classes  of  crippled  beggars  are  con- 
fined by  mutual  agreement  to  one  particular  route.  Then, 
the  paid  mourners  at  a  funeral  agree  amongst  themselves 
to  form  clubs  for  separate  districts  and  different  priced 
funerals.  They  work  to  a  nicety,  pool  the  funds,  and, 
having  made  allowance  for  expense  in  garb  for  attending 
funerals  of  different  classes,  the  balance  is  divided  among 
all  the  male  and  all  the  female  mourners.  Brides-elect 
and  those  about  to  become  mothers  get  up  clubs  to  buy 
trousseaux. 

There  are  money-lending  clubs  under  other  names,  sym- 
bolical of  the  methods  of  receiving  or  paying  back  the 
amounts ;  but  all  have  really  the  same  object  in  view, 
namely,  getting  one's  friends  to  put  up  a  large  sum,  at  a 
moment  of  financial  difficulty,  or  when  there  is  the  chance 


252  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

of  putting  through  a  profitable  piece  of  business,  provided 
the  first  borrower  can  lay  his  hands  on  a  commanding  sum 
of  money.  A  few  of  the  peculiar  names  of  these  clubs  are 
of  interest,  as  well  as  their  reasons  for  being  so  called, 
such  as  :  The  Snake  casting  its  Skin  Club.  As  the  snake 
casts  its  skin  very  slowly  at  regular  intervals,  it  may  be 
accurately  inferred  that  the  borrower  returns  his  loan 
gradually  at  regular  intervals.  Here  there  are  no  draw- 
ings, except  the  one,  and  no  pool,  except  the  one,  the 
members  being  called  at  regular  intervals  to  receive  grad- 
ually and  singly  the  amount  originally  subscribed  by 
each.  The  order  of  repayment  at  these  subsequent  meet- 
ings is  decided  by  lottery  in  the  form  of  dice-throwing. 
Another  typical  name  for  one  class  of  these  clubs  is,  The 
Dragon-headed  Club,  and  as  the  head  of  the  dragon  is 
much  larger  in  proportion  than  any  other  separate  part  of 
the  body,  the  deduction  is  readily  drawn  that  the  first 
payment  by  each  member  is  much  larger  than  any  subse- 
quent single  payment.  The  Teipo  Hwui  or  Spread  on  the 
Ground  Association  is  another,  somewhat  similar  to  the 
first  association  described,  but  as  the  head  need  not  neces- 
sarily be  the  first  drawer,  or  even  a  member  entitled  to 
draw,  but  rather  a  paid  secretary,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  considerable  smaller  differences.  The  head's 
salary  is  not  a  definite  sum  per  month  or  week,  but  he  or 
she  (since  women  are  not  debarred  from  these  associations) 
gets  as  commission  half  of  one  single  individual's  sub- 
scription, paid  to  him  or  her  by  the  drawer  at  each  meet- 
ing. The  lucky  drawer  is  fixed  by  bidding,  and  the  bids 
are  marked  by  counters  of  different  lengths  of  bamboo, 
each  length  representing  so  many  dollars  or  portions  of 
dollars  according  to  such  length.  The  one  who  has  put  in 
the  greatest  combined  value  of  bamboos  is  the  purchaser  of 
the  particular  drawing. 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  253 

The  status  of  an  association  in  China  is  generally 
recognized,  and  the  officials  punish  an  absconder  there- 
from very  severely  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  claims  of 
money  loan  associations  have  been  ruled  out  of  court,  in 
Hongkong,  should  the  number  of  associates  be,  or  exceed, 
twenty,  as  under  the  laws  of  the  colony  any  collection  of 
twenty  people  in  money  transactions  must  be  registered 
as  a  company.  In  the  case,  however,  of  the  associates  being 
less  than  twenty  in  number,  any  proceedings  coming 
before  the  court  are  tried  on  their  merits. 

There  are  interesting  rulings  of  the  court  of  the  colony, 
one  being  that  of  Judge  Sir  James  Russell ;  in  this  he 
found  that  the  head  of  an  association,  in  which  all  details 
were  not  completed  according  to  the  rules  thereof,  was 
liable  to  be  sued  for  the  money  had. 

Judge  the  Hon.  F.  Snowden  defined  the  legal  dif- 
ference between  the  Ye  Hwui  and  Teipo  Hwui  as  follows  : 
"  Inasmuch  as  the  head  of  the  former  gets  the  full 
amount  of  the  first  drawing,  he  is  responsible  for  the 
future  payments  to  the  other  members,  but  as  the  head  of 
the  Teipo  Hwui  only  gets  a  commission  on  each  drawing, 
and  only  puts  himself  or  herself  to  the  trouble  of  collect- 
ing, and  does  not  make  him  or  herself  responsible  for 
the  various  members  paying  their  amounts,  he  or  she  can- 
not be  held  responsible  for  future  payments  from  or  to 
any  members." 

Pawnshops.  —  Unlike  money  loan  associations,  which 
are,  essentially,  conducted  on  mutual  trust  principles,  the 
pawnshops  of  China  are  definite  commercial  undertakings 
and  amongst  the  high  classes  of  business  with  which  a 
wealthy  Chinese  gentleman  may  be  connected.  They 
are  recognized  by  the  governments,  both  central  and  pro- 
vincial, and  are  taxed  and  registered  in  their  different 
classes,   of   which    there    are   three   distinctive,   namely; 


254  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

(1)  TangPo  Tien,  (2)  Chi  Tien,  and  (3)  Yah.  Numbers  1 
and  2  are  legitimate  institutions,  being  registered  and  pay- 
ing definite  taxes  on  capital  and  having  to  fulfil  certain 
obligations  within  the  district,  such  as  assisting  the  provin- 
cial governor,  district  magistrate,  etc.,  when  a  sudden  im- 
perial call  for  revenue  finds  the  official  exchequer  in  light 
condition.  A  tax  on  the  year's  profits,  or  on  goods  stored, 
is  levied,  or  even  the  collection  of  local  taxes  is  pledged  to 
the  pawn-office  proprietors  for  a  certain  period.  This  latter 
is  a  most  profitable  arrangement  for  the  pawn-office  pro- 
prietor, as  in  all  cases  of  farmed  taxes  the  holder  has 
enormous  chances  of  squeeze.  Number  3  is  an  illegal  in- 
stitution and  is  unregistered  except  in  the  treaty  ports,  but 
has  nevertheless  to  pay  taxes,  and  is  liable  to  be  raided  at 
any  moment  by  yamen  runners,  as  it  is  the  recognized  bureau 
for  the  receipt  of  stolen  goods.  Should  a  yamen  runner, 
detective,  or  petty  official  find  any  stolen  goods  in  any  of 
these  houses,  he  simply  confiscates  the  property,  returning 
it  to  its  legitimate  owner,  in  lieu  of  the  customary  eumshaw 
or  squeeze,  while  the  pawn-office  proprietor  must  neces- 
sarily stand  the  loss.  As  a  result  goods  pledged  in  the 
shops  of  the  third  class  do  not  yield  a  big  advance,  and  the 
period  of  such  advance  is  very  short  before  the  goods  are 
sold,  varying  from  six  weeks  to  six  or  nine  months. 
Bundles  of  tickets  are  bought  up  indiscriminately  by 
pawn-ticket  merchants  and  retailed  in  the  streets  at  the 
purchaser's  risk,  particularly  in  the  case  of  third-class 
pawn-office  tickets,  as  the  purchaser  might  find  on  arrival 
at  the  shop  that  the  goods  connected  with  the  ticket  had 
already  been  removed  by  the  yamen  runners. 

The  power  of  these  runners  to  seize  pawned  goods  in  a 
third-class  pawn-office,  without  giving  a  voucher  or  com- 
pensation for  the  same,  is  frequently  abused  by  these 
official   hawks.      Many  articles  which  have   never  been 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  255 

Stolen  at  all,  but  please  the  eye  or  the  avarice  of  the 
runners,  are  carried  away  under  the  pretext  of  restoring 
stolen  property. 

Taken  generally,  the  laws  relating  to  pawnshops  are 
strict  and  equitable  in  conception,  but  in  fulfilment  there 
are  great  differences  in  the  interpretation  of  the  terms 
"strictness"  and  "equity."  However,  travesties  of  law 
and  justice  in  relation  to  the  pawn-ofl&ce  seldom  occur 
with  shops  of  the  first  or  second  class.  An  interesting 
indication  of  the  legal  status  of  pawn-offices  is  obtained 
from  the  following  excerpt  from  a  despatch  sent  by  Kung 
(taotai  of  Shanghai)  to  British  Consul-General  Hughes 
(of  Shanghai),  and  published  in  the  minutes  of  the  munici- 
pal council's  meetings,  1888,  with  the  whole  correspond- 
ence on  the  subject  of  a  foreign  pawn-office  established  in 
Shanghai:  "Every  Chinese  subject  who  opens  a  pawnshop 
is  bound  to  take  out  a  license  from  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment for  which  he  pays  a  fee.  He  is  also  bound  to 
receive  government  deposits,  the  interest  on  which  is 
devoted  to  government  purposes,  and  to  pay  various 
monthly  taxes  in  addition. 

"  Owing  to  the  large  increase  of  late  years  in  the  num- 
ber of  unlicensed  native  pawnshops  (jyaK)^  the  legitimate 
business  of  the  petitioners  has  already  been  seriously  en- 
croached upon,  causing  them  serious  loss,  in  addition  to 
which,  this  year,  in  consequence  of  a  decree  from  the 
Board  of  Revenue  at  Peking,  they  have  had  to  pay  the 
government  dues  for  twenty  years  in  advance.  The  latter 
call  they  cheerfully  met  in  recognition  of  the  protection 
they  expect  to  obtain  from  the  government  for  their 
trade." 

In  passing  I  might  mention  to  those  interested  the  fact 
that  this  incident  also  illustrates  one  of  the  cases  of  the  im- 
possibility of  attempting  to  start  anything  new  in  China 


256  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

without  conciliating  the  local  interests.  This  particular 
petition  was  met  by  an  absolute  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 
council  to  have  any  foreign  enterprise  within  the  foreign 
limits  interfered  with  by  either  Chinese  tradesmen  or 
Chinese  officials.  Nevertheless  the  foreign  pawn-office, 
complained  of  in  the  petition,  proved  a  failure,  and  had  to 
close  its  portals  owing  to  the  opposition  of  natives  inter- 
ested, although  at  that  time,  1888,  there  were  twenty-one 
pawn-offices  of  the  first  and  second  class  doing  a  flourish- 
ing business  in  the  foreign  settlements  of  Shanghai  alone, 
and  there  were  five  times  that  number  of  Yah  carrying  on 
trade  in  the  settlements  and  native  city. 

The  importance  of  the  Tang  Po  Tien  and  the  Chi  Tien 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  they  cannot  refuse  govern- 
ment deposits  although  they  are  not  actually  banks. 

The  Tang  Po  Tien  owners  must  be  responsible  parties, 
merchants  of  known  standing  and  financial  ability,  bank- 
ers, or  even  officials  without  substantive  rank,  although 
those  holding  substantive  posts  do  engage,  illegally,  in  such 
trade.  The  owners  cannot  refuse  to  advance  money  to 
any  amount  on  reliable  security,  generally  giving  sixty- 
five  to  seventy -five  per  cent  of  the  value  of  such  security 
as  the  pawning  limit.  The  security  remains  on  deposit, 
until  redeemed  with  the  required  interest,  and  cannot  be 
sold  under  a  period  of  eighteen  months  from  date  of  loan, 
and  by  mutual  consent  the  period  of  redemption  may  go 
on  for  three  years.  The  Tang  Po  Tien  do  not  remain  open 
after  sundown.  Each  director  has  a  key  to  .one  of  the 
numerous  successive  doors  leading  to  the  strong  room, 
where  valuable  portable  goods,  such  as  pearls,  precious 
stones,  gold  ornaments,  etc.,  are  stored,  which  cannot, 
therefore,  be  opened  by  one  of  their  number  without  the 
consent  or  knowledge  of  the  other  owners.  The  class  of 
goods  the   Tang  Po  Tien  lends  on  are  :  (1)  the  official 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  267 

pawnings  of  taxes  and  their  collection  previously  de- 
scribed; (2)  standing  crops  of  all  unperishable  produce, 
such  as  rice,  millet,  corn,  cotton,  tea,  etc.  ;  (3)  land 
revenues;  (4)  house  rentals;  (5)  bona  fide  shop  accounts, 
shop  fittings,  shop  merchandise,  a  servant  of  the  pawn- 
shop being  placed  during  the  period  of  the  pawning  in 
the  merchant's  shop  to  see  that  all  returns  are  properly 
noted  and  nothing  illegally  disposed  of  ;  (6)  possessions 
of  private  people  and  officials,  such  as  furs  and  other  wear- 
ing apparel,  personal  and  household  ornaments,  etc. 

The  Chi  Tien  is  practically  on  the  same  legal  footing 
with  the  Tang  Po  Tien,  but  can  refuse  to  lend  large 
amounts,  except  to  central  or  provincial  government  offi- 
cials. They  lend  to  high-class  customers,  but  only  on 
tangible  or  movable  security,  such  as  merchandise,  espe- 
cially piece-goods,  wearing  apparel,  and  household  or  per- 
sonal ornaments,  and  any  articles  of  such  character. 

The  trade  of  pawnshops  is  injuriously  affected  by  all  the 
legal  restrictions  regarding  the  sale  of  pawned  articles,  by 
the  depreciation,  or  the  fragile  nature  of  the  articles 
pawned,  and  by  the  risk  of  fire.  The  proprietor  is  liable 
for  the  full  value  of  the  article  should  it  be  burned  by  a 
fire  having  broken  out  in  the  pawnshop,  and  half  the 
value  if  the  fire  originated  in  a  neighbouring  house. 

From  the  nature  of  the  business  of  a  first-class  or  second- 
class  pawn-office,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  proprietors  must 
be  wealthy  men,  or  have  wealthy  backing.  In  fact,  pro- 
prietors of  pawnshops  are  at  the  same  time  proprietors  of 
native  banks,  or  large  grain  merchants,  or  salt  merchants, 
and  though  their  separate  undertakings  are  officially 
worked  separately,  they  in  reality  work  cooperatively  and 
assist  one  another  out  of  difficulties  temporary  in  their 
nature. 

This  association  of  banks  with  pawn-offices  enables  the 


258  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

latter  to  accept  the  larger  government  deposits,  which 
would  otherwise  be  too  risky  in  bad  times, — the  times 
when  the  government  usually  finds  it  difficult  to  secure 
other  and  more  remunerative  places  for  investing  the  sur- 
plus of  the  exchequer. 

A  pawn-office  is  one  of  the  best  places  to  get  money 
changed  in  China ;  standard  gold  will  always  get  its  full 
value  of  silver  or  copper  cash,  as  the  changer  requires, 
and  the  money  is  always  good,  no  bad  or  small  cash  being 
allowed  within  the  Tang  Po  Tien  or  Chi  Tien.  One  finds 
in  travelling  that  it  is  most  convenient  to  deposit  money 
in  a  pawn-office  and  get  notes  or  letters  of  credit  to  high- 
class  pawn-offices  in  prefectural  and  magisterial  towns  in 
the  interior,  and  there  draw,  as  it  is  certain  that  every  shoe 
of  sycee  and  every  copper  cash  obtained  in  this  way  is 
genuine.  Further,  this  gives  an  introduction  to  the  pawn- 
office  owners  who,  as  previously  stated,  are  generally 
wealthy  men,  if  not  the  wealthiest  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  are  accordingly  among  the  best  people  for  the  travel- 
ler to  meet.  Frequently  their  large,  clean,  and  comfort- 
able dwelling-houses,  at  the  rear  of  the  pawn-office,  within 
the  same  high-walled  and  embattled  compound,  are  put  at 
the  disposal  of  a  traveller  as  long  as  he  remains  in  that 
town.  When  he  leaves  they  will  undertake  the  trouble 
of  securing  baggage-carts  and  fixing  the  rates  at  which 
goods  are  to  be  carried,  that  is  to  say,  the  daily  hire  of  the 
carts  required,  so  that  one  should  not  be  unduly  squeezed. 
By  them  cards  and  letters  of  introduction  are  given  to 
merchants  and  bankers  in  other  towns,  who,  in  the  letters, 
have  been  told  to  provide,  as  far  as  possible,  all  comforts 
and  the  information  required. 

The  impression  created  by  the  pawn-office  proprietors 
is  that  they  are  a  highly  respectable  class  in  the  commu- 
nity, and  as  business  men  in  a  business  country,  among  the 
soundest. 


BUSINESS  CUSTOMS  259 

Many  of  the  things  found  in  a  pawn-office,  such  as  furs 
and  wearing  apparel,  are  simply  there  for  safe-keeping 
and  storage,  as  all  these  articles  must  be  examined  by  the 
proprietors  or  their  staff,  from  time  to  time,  to  see  that 
they  are  not  getting  damaged  by  dirt,  damp,  or  moths. 
The  staff  of  a  pawn-office  are  generally  well  armed,  one 
or  two  of  their  number  doing  duty  all  night,  by  turns, 
on  the  walls,  which  are  high  and  strong  and  loopholed. 
The  doors,  which  are  thick,  are  further  protected  with 
well-secured,  thick,  wooden  railings.  Such  precautions  are 
necessary,  because  the  valuable  nature  of  the  goods  stored 
within  might  incite  burglars  and  bandits  to  try  their  luck 
at  housebreaking. 

These  pawnshops  are  generally  the  finest  and  most 
imposing  buildings  in  a  Chinese  town,  and  the  stranger 
passing  through  cannot  fail  to  observe  the  contrast  be- 
tween their  massive  structure  and  the  structure  of  other 
houses  or  mercantile  shops  or  stores. 

Bargain  Money.  —  What  is  it?  Nothing  but  the  custom 
of  the  country,  and  as  custom  it  must  continue.  Almost 
as  important  in  business  as  the  go-between,  and  permeat- 
ing the  whole  structure  on  which  Chinese  commerce  has 
been  built  up,  is  the  use  of  bargain  money.  The  absolute 
necessity  for  the  payment  of  what  is  called  bargain  money, 
when  the  fulfilment  of  a  contract  is  one  of  the  great  vir- 
tues of  the  Chinese,  proves  to  be  one  of  those  extraordi- 
nary contradictions  which  go  toward  making  the  study  of 
this  people  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  at  the  same 
time  most  baffling  that  man  can  set  himself.  Gillespie 
found  that  with  the  Chinese,  "  Genius  and  originality  are 
regarded  as  hostile  and  incompatible  elements  ;  "  so  in 
business  we  find  that  bargain  money  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary where  custom,  position,  and  prestige  already  compel 
the  fulfilment  of  a  contract. 


260  CHIXA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Those  who  do  business  in  China  need  no  interpretation 
of  the  working  of  the  system  called  bargain  money.  It  is 
a  system  as  well  as  a  custom,  worked  most  systematically, 
and  is  fixed  at  regular  percentages  on  the  amount  of  capital 
at  stake  in  a  business  deal.  Once  bargain  money  has  been 
paid,  there  is  no  going  back  by  either  of  the  principals, 
the  handing  of  it  from  one  side  to  the  other  being  by  cus- 
tom supposed  to  clinch  all  talk  on  the  basis  of  what  has 
been  discussed  before.  If  the  vendor  should  endeavour  to 
go  back  on  the  bargain,  he  loses  his  bargain  money. 

The  bargain-money  system  permeates  the  whole  com- 
mercial life  of  China,  and  though  insisted  upon  now  by 
manufacturers  or  any  one  vending  commodities,  land,  etc., 
grew  out  of  the  custom  that  any  citizen  who  wished  work, 
or  anything  else  put  through  in  a  hurry,  paid  what  might 
be  termed  a  retaining  fee,  or  first  option  money.  Bargain 
money  is  strongly  objected  to  by  the  newcomer  on  his 
first  dealings  with  the  Chinese,  until  he  finds  that  practi- 
cally no  business  can  be  done  without  it.  The  advantage 
of  bargain  money  to  the  vendor  of  labour,  work,  or  goods  is 
very  great,  as  he  has,  then,  just  so  much  capital  on  which 
to  draw  interest  until  delivery  has  been  made  and  taken. 

By  the  paying  of  bargain  money  the  vendee  is  assured 
of  the  work's  being  done,  and  of  his  having  to  accept  de- 
livery, if  it  should  fulfil  all  conditions  of  the  agreement, 
under  penalty  of  losing  all  the  money  handed  over  as 
bargain  money.  Bargain  money  corresponds  very  much 
to  the  early  English  "  luck-penny,"  only  it  changes  hands 
before  delivery  of  goods,  and  the  luck-penny  is  a  rebate 
on  conclusion  of  a  sale;  but,  as  indicating  that  both  parties 
are  satisfied  with  the  bargain,  the  two  systems  are  identical 
in  idea. 

Purchasing  Agents.  —  A  native  custom  which  has  grown 
out  of  the  limited  number  of  treaty  ports  in  China  is  that 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  261 

of  the  "purchasing  agent."  In  a  foreign  country  he 
would  be  called  a  wholesale  buyer,  except  that  in  foreign 
countries  such  a  buyer  would  be  granted  discretionary 
power  to  buy  articles  which  he  considered  would  have  a 
fair  sale  in  his  town  and  bring  in  reasonable  profit  to  his 
employer.  On  the  other  hand  the  purchasing  agent  comes 
down  to  Shanghai,  or  some  other  treaty  port,  with  a 
limited  number  of  orders  for  particular  goods  which  are 
already  the  staple  stock  of  the  various  houses  up  country. 
The  orders  being  completed  in  Shanghai,  the  agent  sets 
about  having  a  good  time  in  a  tea  shop  or  opium  den,  thus 
whiling  away  the  time  until  he  can  catch  a  return  boat. 
There  is  no  central  place  where  he  can  see  any  new  foreign 
imports  on  exhibit.  The  conservative  habits  of  the  foreign 
import  houses  too  often  teach  the  worthies  therein  that  it 
is  beneath  their  dignity  to  push  business  by  showing  any- 
thing that  has  not  been  asked  for  ;  therefore,  under  present 
conditions,  it  is  difficult  for  consular  ojfficials  to  try  to 
open  up  new  markets. 

Such  is  the  natural  curiosity  of  the  Chinese  that,  if  they 
can  see  and  examine  things  for  nothing,  they  will  spend 
hours  learning  every  detail  of  a  subject  which  attracts 
their  interest.  Were  full  advantage  taken  of  these  char- 
acteristics of  the  Chinese  by  having  a  large  exhibition  hall 
in  each  of  the  larger  treaty  ports,  and  particularly  in 
Shanghai,  where  the  Chinese  could  see  foreign  products, 
and  foreigners  coiild  see  Chinese  products,  the  mutual 
benefit  would  soon  be  apparent  in  the  general  advance  of 
trade.  As  nothing  fascinates  the  Chinese  mind  more  than 
the  intricacies  of  machinery,  those  who  visited  a  machinery 
hall  would  soon  learn  all  the  working  of  a  machine  and 
its  particular  uses,  and  as  no  one  can  compete  with  the 
Chinese  as  a  gossipmouger,  most  of  the  machinery  seen 
would  secure  cheap  advertisement. 


262  CHINA   IN   LAW    AND   COMMERCE 

The  Japanese  see  the  use  of  exhibiting  in  China;  but, 
having  no  exhibition  hall,  they  have  to  adopt  a  more  ex- 
pensive method  of  advertising,  and  they  scatter  broadcast 
through  the  country  free  samples,  with  detailed  descrip- 
tions of  the  commodity  printed  in  native  characters  that 
the  natives  can  read,  and  not  in  English,  which  natives  do 
not  understand. 

Fast  on  the  heels  of  the  sample  distributer  comes  the 
Japanese  commercial  traveller,  and  orders  are  booked  on 
all  sides  in  accordance  with  the  sample  that  appealed  to 
the  native  Chinese.  That  business  follows  in  the  tracks 
of  such  a  systematic  pushing  of  trade  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  the  Japanese  trade  with  China  has  increased  in  the 
decadal  period  ending  1902  from  1.1270  to  14.70  of  the 
total  clearage  at  the  Chinese  ports.  In  the  same  period 
the  United  States  trade  rose  from  0.9770  to  1.70  of  the 
total  clearage,  while  the  trade  of  Great  Britain  received 
Irish  promotion  from  62.1970  to  50.70  of  the  total  clear- 
age.  But  then  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America  appear  to  con- 
sider that  the  methods  which  suit  their  insular  or  local 
trade  development  are  too  grand  and  great  to  attempt 
in  a  country  which  offers  over  400,000,000  possible  pur- 
chasers. In  the  overstocked  market  of  Europe  and 
America  it  pays  to  push  trade,  but  in  China,  with  the 
aforementioned  population,  it  would  seem,  the  greatest 
producers  in  the  world  consider  that  demands  for  goods 
had  better  come  from  the  market,  although  the  market 
does  not  know  the  products  of  the  producer. 

I  may  here  quote  from  the  report  of  H.B.M.  Commer- 
cial Attache  in  China :  "  The  Indian  export  trade  was 
built  up  by  collecting  agents  in  every  town  throughout 
the  peninsula.  Railway  stations  and  the  amended  inland 
navigation  rules  should  facilitate  a  similar  method  of  pro- 
cedure in  China." 


BUSINESS  CUSTOMS  263 

The  business  of  the  big  houses  in  the  treaty  ports  has 
become  too  fossilized  and  a  matter  of  routine.  The  heads 
of  these  firms  or  agencies  carry  on  a  criminal  strangula- 
tion of  the  trade  of  the  home  producer  whom  they  repre- 
sent by  considering  that  every  new  demand  or  change  in 
old  custom  is  a  decided  bore,  and  that  any  attempt  on  the 
part  of  juniors  to  instil  energy  or  bring  about  change 
must  be  crushed  if  possible.  Often  is  the  energetic  new- 
comer who,  astonished  at  commercial  stagnation,  suggests 
new  methods  of  increasing  turnover,  met  with  the  sar- 
castic remark,  "You,  who  are  here  for  a  few  months, 
wish  to  teach  me  my  business,  who  have  been  here 
for  years."  This  crushes  in  the  bud  the  natural  business 
proclivity  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  the  youth  falls  into 
the  beaten  groove  of  his  senile  business  superior,  and 
the  principles  of  commercial  progress  are  completely  left 
out  of  sight.  Certainly  there  is  foundation  for  this 
arraignment. 

A  great  deal  of  this  comes  from  the  fact  that  the  foreign 
houses  in  the  treaty  ports  of  China  are  agents  for  several 
firms,  and  will  not  push  a  particular  line  of  goods  lest  it 
should  interfere  with  the  goods  of  another  agency  which 
they  hold.  Some  of  these  firms  have  come  to  be  known 
as  "  ten  per  centers,"  the  phrase  indicating  their  commis- 
sion as  agents  and  managers  of  various  undertakings,  but 
it  might  just  as  well  be  applied  to  the  amount  of  energy 
they  expend  on  the  advancement  of  trade.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  a  few,  very  few,  enlightened  tipans  or 
managers,  who  break  away  from  tradition  and  routine, 
and  are  gaining  a  daily  increasing  clientele,  attracted  by 
the  variety  of  goods  exhibited,  and  by  the  vigour  of  those 
acting  under  these  more  energetic  tipans  who  make  a 
study,  in  their  spare  time,  of  the  customs  and  needs  of  the 
people  of  the  country. 


264  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Mutual  understanding  is  the  mainspring  of  commerce 
amongst  the  Chinese  themselves,  and  the  sooner  it  is  incul- 
cated into  the  dealings  of  foreigners  with  Chinese,  the 
sooner  one  may  look  for  the  spread  of  commercial  rela- 
tions. 

Fengshui.  —  In  the  business  life  of  the  Chinese  fengshui 
is  as  important  a  feature  of  business  as  the  go-between. 
Though  foreigners  may  laugh  at  the  firm  belief  of  the 
Chinese  in  this  pseudo-commercial  science,  it  is  to  be 
found  under  various  names  and  conditions  among  the  peas- 
ants of  all  nations.  In  China,  from  the  Emperor  to  the 
rag-covered  beggar  and  cripple,  there  is  an  implicit  belief 
in  the  geomantic  superstition  concerning  the  grave  of  a 
deceased  ancestor  and  its  effect  upon  the  present  and 
future  generations. 

Many  of  the  higher  officials  and  scholars  of  China  claim 
a  knowledge  amounting  to  professorial  distinction  in  fSng- 
shui.  They  claim  to  be  able,  from  the  bend  of  a  tree,  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  the  curve  of  a  river,  to  divine  the  sub- 
terranean currents  known  to  Chinese  geomancy  as  the 
"green  dragon"  and  "white  tiger,"  and  the  celestial 
current  or  course  of  the  spirit  known  as  "  the  heaven 
fox."  Such  a  knowledge  is  sufficient  stock-in-hand  to 
insure  a  profitable  business  to  the  purveyor  of  spirit 
fortune. 

The  fSngshui  trade  was  confined  to  the  priests  until  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  scholars  began  to  make  use  of 
the  commercial  side  of  the  belief,  so  that  by  purveying  this 
commodity  they  could  afford  to  continue  their  studies. 
The  artful  reactionary  or  revolutionary  makes  great  use 
of  fingshui  in  getting  his  first  influence  over  the  minds  of 
the  people.  It  is  the  course  of  the  "  green  dragon  "  or 
"  white  tiger  "  which  decides  for,  or  against,  a  local  dis- 
turbance.    Dyer  Ball  gives  an  excellent  instance  of  the 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  265 

influence  oifSngshui  on  disturbances.  "  When  two  build- 
ings are  beside  one  another,  the  one  on  the  left  is  said  to 
be  built  on  the  '  green  dragon,'  and  the  one  on  the  right 
on  the  'white  tiger.'  Now  the  tiger  must  not  be  higher 
than  the  dragon,  or  death  or  bad  luck  will  result."  This 
accounts  for  the  number  of  single-story  houses  to  be 
found  in  town,  village,  and  country  hamlet  throughout 
China,  and  for  the  unnecessary  spreading  of  Chinese 
houses  over  a  large  area,  thereby  taking  gradually  away 
from  cultivated  lands,  and  reducing  the  amount  paying 
producer  tax  to  the  government.  Besides  this,  it  is  the 
cause  of  many  of  the  misunderstandings  which  so  fre- 
quently arise  between  the  foreigner  resident  in  the  in- 
terior of  China  and  the  natives.  If,  therefore,  the 
foreigner  wishes  to  have  a  house  of  two  or  three  stories 
without  the  risk  of  trouble,  he  must  seem  to  pander 
to  fengshui,  and  build  up  his  left  or  right  hand  neigh- 
bour's house  to  a  height  equal  to  that  of  his  own;  no 
matter  whether  his  house  be  on  the  "tiger"  or  "dragon," 
the  natives  will  fancy  his  is  on  the  "tiger."  Thus  is  super- 
stition made  a  trade.  We  continually  come  across  feng- 
shui in  the  modernizing  of  China's  methods  of  business 
communications,  such  as  railways,  river  steamers,  telegraph 
lines,  etc. 

No  railway  must  run  sufficiently  near  the  grave  or 
lucky  mountain  pass  in  China,  or  it  may  disturb  and 
scare  away  the  luck  spirits  of  fengshui.  For  the  same 
reason  no  steamboat  must  whistle  near  a  lucky  bend  of 
the  river,  or  near  graveyards,  and  no  telegraph  pole  must 
enable  the  electric  current  to  kill  the  spirits  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  graves.  None  of  these  difficulties  will  be  found  to 
exist  if  sufficient  money  be  distributed  in  the  right  direc- 
tions, as  to  local  officials,  heads  of  villages,  or  the  owners 
of  the  land  endowed  with  good  fingshui. 


266  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  fengshui  cant  is  an  excellent  one  for  obstructive 
officials  who  do  not  desire  foreign  innovations.  As 
previously  stated,  there  is  nothing  that  cannot  be  done 
in  China  by  the  foreigner  if  he  considers  it  worth  his 
while  to  conciliate  the  local  interests.  The  influence  of 
fSngshui  in  any  direction  can  be  overcome  by  a  judicious 
foreigner  engaged  in  business  relations  with  the  natives. 

That  the  commercial  side  of  fingahui  does  not  hit  the 
foreigner  alone  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  if  there  is 
an  epidemic  of  any  kind  of  sickness  in  a  locality  near  to 
which  a  rich  man  has  built  a  tomb  or  house,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  district  attribute  the  misfortune  to  him.  He 
must  restore  fengshui  to  the  district  or  pay  heavy  com- 
pensation to  the  neighbours,  particularly  to  geomancers 
and  priests. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  treaty  -ports  fSngshui  is  not 
so  much  felt  by  the  foreigners,  and  a  small  squeeze  can 
get  a  grave  removed  without  any  trouble  from  the  parties 
interested.  In  the  interior  the  greatest  rowdies  are  the 
loudest  upholders  of  fSngshui. 

Gompradores  and  Shroffs.  —  In  foreign  commercial  inter- 
course with  the  Chinese  two  native  individuals  must  be 
reckoned  as  part  of  the  establishment.  The  more  im- 
portant one  is  the  compradore,  and  the  lesser  is  the  shroff. 
They  and  their  duties  are  quite  distinct.  The  shroff  is 
really  a  petty  cash  receiver.  As  it  is  not  considered  dig- 
nified for  the  tipan,  or  foreign  head  of  the  firm,  to  have 
cash  dealings  with  any  one,  he  must  employ  a  shroff. 
The  old  compradore  was  a  very  different  man  from  the 
compradore  of  to-day.  Forty  years  ago  the  compradore 
was  part  interpreter  and  part  go-between  in  dealings 
between  foreign  merchants  and  native  traders.  He  was 
always  the  servant  of  the  hong,  or  merchant  firm.  To- 
day he  is  the  master,  and,  as  his  agency,  the  foreign  trad- 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  267 

ing  firm  is  tolerated  as  a  matter  of  convenience.  The 
compradore  of  modern  times  is  generally  a  rich  Cantonese 
merchant,  who  could  with  the  greatest  ease,  in  many 
cases,  buy  out  the  foreign  firm  which  nominally  employs 
him.  He  is  a  member  of  every  guild  that  has  anything 
to  do  with  the  goods  imported  or  exported  by  the  foreign 
shipper  with  whom  he  deigns  to  work..  The  result  is 
that  the  natural  enterprise  in  a  young  firm  is  killed  by 
the  compradore  when  it  suits  him,  and  thus  is  trade 
cramped. 

The  necessity  for  compradorea  came  about  in  bygone 
years,  and  the  practice  has  continued  to  this  day,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  foreign  employees  of  foreign  firms 
have  never  learned,  and  have  never  been  encouraged  to 
learn,  the  native  official  or  dialectic  language,  while  the 
compradore  is  generally  a  good  scholar  in  the  particular 
language  of  the  tipan.  The  idea  of  employing  a  compra- 
dore under  the  circumstances  would  seem  to  be  moving 
along  the  lines  of  least  resistance,  but  that  is  more  in  the 
seeming  than  in  the  fact.  Through  the  ignorance  of  the 
Chinese  language  and  customs  displayed  by  employees  of 
European  and  American  firms  enormous  power  of  resist- 
ance is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese,  through  the 
compradores,  who  must  obey  the  dictates  of  the  guilds  as 
against  those  of  the  employers. 

Owing  to  the  power  the  compradore  class  now  wields, 
there  is  no  remedy  for  this  system,  and  the  compradores 
must  be  permitted  to  run  the  foreigner's  business  to  suit 
their  own  convenience.  On  occasion  one  has  undoubtedly 
through  self-interest  been  of  momentous  advantage  to  the 
foreign  firm  with  whom  his  name  is  associated.  He 
would  "  lose  face  "  among  his  own  countrymen  if  the  firm 
broke,  and  as  he  can  generally  command  considerable 
sums,  it  suits  him  on  occasion  to  come  to  the  rescue  with 


268  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

his  purse  and  credit.  The  crisis  over,  however,  he  gener- 
ally gets  his  own  back  with  much  more  interest  than  that 
of  which  the  firm  has  any  cognizance. 

Though  the  shroff  is  not  accountant  or  cashier,  he  looks 
after  loose  cash,  the  collecting  of  accounts,  local  rates  of  ex- 
change, individual  credit,  and  in  fact  runs  a  general  utility 
business  in  the  petty  cash  department.  All  this  kind  of 
business  suits  the  quickness  of  the  Chinese,  and  he  is  most 
useful  to  his  employer  in  this  respect.  There  is,  however, 
an  objection  to  his  position  also.  The  employment  of 
shroffs  tends  to  extravagance  among  the  juniors  in 
the  firm.  They  borrow  continually  from  him  and  are 
thus  monthly  running  beyond  their  incomes,  and  lose  all 
sense  of  personal  responsibility,  besides  losing  prestige 
or  "  face." 

The  foregoing  shows  the  abuses  of  the  compradore  sys- 
tem, but  there  is  a  converse  to  this  aspect.  His  knowledge 
of  the  general  trend  of  politics  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
Empire  and  the  effect  thereof  on  his  employer's  trade  is 
extensive.  There  is  no  large  merchant  in  the  interior 
about  whom  he  does  not  know  something,  or  concerning 
whom  he  cannot  on  the  shortest  notice  obtain  information. 
He  is  a  walking  encyclopsedia  of  industrial,  commercial, 
political,  and  financial  information.  On  many  occasions 
he  saves  his  employer  from  transactions  with  silk-robed, 
smooth-tongued  Chinese  merchants  whose  stability  as  mer- 
chants is  more  than  doubtful.  If  a  Chinese  compradore 
could  be  made  to  dictate  to  a  writer  or  to  write  himself  a 
history  of  his  experiences,  it  would  be  one  of  the  most 
interesting  volumes  on  China  that  could  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  foreign  merchants  or  those  interested  in  Chinese 
business  customs. 

Chops.  — The  wor4  "  chop  "  is  used  by  foreigners  with 
somewhat   different  meanings,   as    in  general   speech  it 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  269 

includes  not  only  the  stamps  affixed  by  Chinese  to  their 
contracts,  but  bank  orders,  tlie  trade-marks  printed  on 
goods,  and  hence  even  classes  of  goods ;  but  strictly 
speaking  the  word  "  chop  "  denotes  the  stamp  of  a  firm  or 
individual. 

Such  chops  are  made  of  hard  wood,  and  are  carved  with 
the  characters  of  the  owner  and  some  fancy  design  to  dis- 
tinguish them.  In  order  to  use  them  they  are  dabbed 
into  a  thick  paste  of  red  paint,  and,  on  Chinese  paper  at 
any  rate,  they  leave  a  clear,  permanent  imprint  easily 
recognized  by  all  Chinese,  and  in  many  ways  more  con- 
venient than  the  obscure  signatures  which  many  foreigners 
affix.  The  Chinese  call  this  class  of  chop  "  to  cho,^'  and 
it  varies  in  shape,  design,  and  size  according  to  the  taste 
of  the  owner.  Firms  and  tipaos  generally  use  rectangu- 
lar or  oblong  chops,  while  private  individuals  seem  to 
prefer  them  round  or  oval. 

Chinese  firms  generally  use  at  least  two  different  chops, 
one  being  employed  for  stamping  chit  books  and  receipts, 
and  another  or  several  others  for  contracts  and  formal 
documents. 

The  custody  and  use  of  the  firm's  formal  chop  is  of 
course  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  according  to  the 
general  practice  only  the  manager  and  accountant  have 
control  over  the  chops.  This  is  intended  to  prevent  any 
partner  from  using  the  firm  chop  for  his  private  business 
or  for  giving  a  guarantee  in  the  firm's  name.  In  a 
Chinese  firm  the  partners  have,  as  a  rule,  little  to  do  with 
the  conduct  of  the  business,  and  instead  of  any  one  part- 
ner's being  entitled  to  bind  the  firm,  as  in  the  case  of  Eng- 
lish and  American  partnership,  the  manager  and  no  one 
else  is  the  person  who  has  this  power  ;  and  consequently 
he  is  the  person  to  keep  the  chop,  though  he  sometimes 
shares  this  duty  with  the  accountant. 


270  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  method  of  keeping  and  using  chops  was  much  dis- 
cussed in  the  case  of  Yu-Foo-Chee  v.  Evans  and  Company 
(November,  1901),  and  a  Chinese  witness  described  the 
practice  in  his  office  as  follows  :  All  the  important  chops 
are  kept  in  a  safe,  the  key  to  which  is  kept  by  the  mana- 
ger or  proprietor  of  the  Jiong.  A  small  chop  marked  with 
the  characters  of  the  hong  name  is  used  for  taking  deliv- 
eries of  orders  and  in  receipting  letters,  and  this  chop  is 
kept  on  the  writing-table.  The  chop  which  would  be 
used  for  contracts  would  always  be  kept  locked  up  in 
the  safe  in  the  manager's  office.  The  small  chop  would 
be  used  for  chit  books  and  sometimes  for  customs  passes. 
And  another  witness  stated  that  the  large  chops  were  kept 
in  a  safe,  the  key  of  which  was  kept  by  the  accountant,  but 
that  this  key  could  not  be  used  without  the  consent  of 
the  manager,  though  the  accountant  could  obtain  the  chop, 
if  he  wished  to,  while  the  manager  was  absent ;  and  it  was 
further  stated  that  the  chops  were  never  allowed  to  be 
taken  out  of  the  office. 

When  a  firm's  chop  has  been  affixed  to  a  document,  all 
persons  are  entitled  to  assume  that  it  was  put  on  by  a 
person  entitled  to  affix  it,  and  although  the  characters 
for  the  firm's  name  are  added  in  writing  in  certain  cases, 
the  chop  in  itself  is  sufficient  to  bind  the  firm  without  any 
signature  or  written  characters. 

If  a  chop  were  stolen  and  fraudulently  affixed  to  a  docu- 
ment, it  would  of  course  be  for  the  owner  of  the  chop  to 
set  up  this  defence  and  disclaim  responsibility  on  the  same 
grounds  on  which  a  foreigner  would  repudiate  a  forged 
signature.  And  it  is  in  such  a  case  as  this  that  the  draw- 
backs to  the  use  of  chops,  as  distinguished  from  signa- 
tures, become  apparent. 

A  forged  signature  must  always  be  slightly  different 
from  the  genuine  signature,  however  clever  the  forgery  be. 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  271 

Consequently  the  principle  of  negligence  can  be  applied 
in  cases  where  two  innocent  people  have  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  a  forger.  For  example,  if  we  take  the  case  of  a 
forged  mortgage  deed,  on  which  an  innocent  person  ad- 
vanced money,  or  a  forged  check  innocently  paid  by  the 
bank  on  which  it  was  drawn,  —  in  both  such  cases  the  per- 
son whose  signature  was  forged  can  well  say  that  a  little 
more  care  would  have  distinguished  the  true  from  the  false 
signature.  But  with  a  chop  it  is  different ;  if  the  chop  is 
improperly  used,  the  holder  of  the  chopped  document  has 
a  genuine  stamp,  but  one  affixed  by  an  unauthorized  per- 
son; and  it  will  be  for  the  owner  of  the  chop  to  prove 
that  there  was  no  negligence  on  his  part  in  allowing  the 
chop  to  be  so  used  or  to  be  stolen. 

No  definite  rules  can  be  laid  down  to  determine  the 
responsibility  of  owners  of  chops  whose  chops  have  been 
used  wrongfully,  and  consequently  it  is  desirable  in  docu- 
ments of  importance,  such  as  guarantees,  mortgages,  and 
such  like,  to  insist  on  both  the  chop  and  the  signature  of 
the  person  affixing  it.  The  name  is  always  written  first 
and  the  chop  affixed  afterward,  either  over  the  written 
signature  or  at  the  foot  or  at  the  side  of  it ;  and  this,  of 
course,  applies  whether  the  document  is  entered  into  by  a 
firm  or  a  private  individual. 

The  tipao's  chop  is  one  of  the  chops  which  concerns 
foreigners  when  they  are  buying  land.  According  to 
Chinese  practice  the  tipao's  chop  is  absolutely  essential  to 
the  validity  of  bills  of  sale,  perpetual  leases,  and  such 
like  documents  relating  to  the  transfer  of  land.  The 
system  is  an  excellent  one  and  goes  far  to  prevent  fraudu- 
lent sales,  for  the  tipao,  as  village  elder,  is,  in  most  cases, 
well  acquainted  with  the  parties  and  with  the  ownership 
of  the  land. 

A  sale  of  land  is  generally  a  matter  of  great  formality. 


272  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND  COMMERCE 

The  bill  of  sale  is  brought  to  the  tipao^  and  the  other 
parties  with  their  middlemen  attend,  bringing  the  fang- 
tans  or  other  documents  of  title  and  the  money  to  be  paid. 
The  document  is  signed  by  the  vendor  and  the  middle- 
men in  the  tipao'a  presence,  and  he  sees  the  money  handed 
over ;  and  not  till  then  does  he  affix  his  chop. 

The  tipao  holds  office  for  one  year  only,  and  the  chop 
is  altered  every  year,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  see  at  a  glance 
what  particular  tipao  has  chopped  a  document.  Formerly 
tipaos  used  to  keep  their  chops  after  their  year  of  office 
had  expired,  but  it  was  found  that  this  led  to  the  fraudu- 
lent use  of  old  chops,  and  according  to  present  practice 
these  have  to  be  given  up. 

Another  chop  which  interests  foreigners  is  that  of  the 
compradore.  Every  foreign  hong  is  of  course  known  to  the 
Chinese  under  a  Chinese  name,  and  the  compradore  has  this 
name  on  his  chops.  The  use  which  a  compradore  is  entitled 
to  make  of  these  chops  has  been  the  cause  of  much  litiga- 
tion, and  the  leading  case  on  the  subject  is  that  of  David 
Sassoon  Sons  and  Company  v.  Wong  Gan  Ying,  heard 
in  the  British  Supreme  Court  on  appeal  from  Tientsin 
in  November,  1884.  In  this  case  a  Chinese  hong  sold 
to  the  compradore  of  Messrs.  Sassoon  certain  gold,  and  the 
compradore  gave  the  Chinese  hong  receipts  stamped  with 
the  chop  bearing  the  characters  for  the  Chinese  name  of 
Messrs.  Sassoon's  firm. 

Mr.  Henderson,  who  sat  as  one  of  the  assessors  on  the 
trial  in  Tientsin,  has  put  on  record  an  interesting  state- 
ment of  the  course  of  business  of  compradores.  He  says 
that  it  is  well  known  that  compradores  trade  largely  on 
their  own  account  and  use  the  seals  or  chops  of  their 
foreign  employers  for  their  private  business  chits;  such 
chops  are  used  also  for  business  receipts  and  agreements. 
He  says  that  he  never  knew  or  heard  of  a  compradore  in 


BUSINESS   CUSTOMS  273 

foreign  employ  using  a  separate  stamp  or  seal  from 
that  of  his  foreign  employers,  even  for  his  own  busi- 
ness. 

Messrs.  Sassoon  contended  that  they  had  never  author- 
ized the  use  of  the  chop  for  the  stamping  of  the  receipts 
in  question,  which  related  to  a  private  business  transac- 
tion of  the  compradore.  But  Sir  Richard  Rennie,  holding 
that  if  principals  authorize  the  use  of  a  chop  by  the  com- 
pradore^ it  is  just  as  good  as  a  signature,  decided  that 
the  receipts  stamped  with  chops  bearing  Messrs.  Sassoon's 
Chinese  name  were  sufficient  to  justify  the  sellers  of  the 
gold  in  thinking  that  they  were  dealing  with  Messrs. 
Sassoon  and  in  giving  credit  to  them,  and  not  to  the  com- 
pradore ;  and  consequently  held  that  Messrs.  Sassoon 
were  bound  by  such  receipts  and  liable  to  the  sellers 
thereunder. 

Until  this  case  is  overruled  British  merchants  must 
realize  that  in  allowing  their  compradores  to  use  chops 
bearing  the  names  of  their  employers,  they  are  liable  for 
the  abuse  by  their  compradore  of  such  chops  to  Chinese 
who  believe  they  are  dealing  with  the  foreign  employer. 
But  the  hardship  is  not  unfair,  considering  that  the 
foreign  employer  can  exercise  his  discretion  in  selecting 
his  compradore  and  in  obtaining  proper  guarantees  for  his 
honesty. 

The  chop  or  seal  which  appears  on  fangtans,  proclama- 
tions, and  such  like  is  strictly  speaking  an  official  seal. 
That  used  for  fangtans  is  called  PVn,  and  is  a  seal  made 
of  metal  and  only  used  by  high  officials.  The  seal  used 
for  proclamations  and  government  documents  is  called 
Kwan  Pang  or  Keen  Kee^  and  in  certain  cases  purple  ink 
is  used  instead  of  the  usual  vermilion. 

Another  stamp  which  is  often  called  a  chop  is  the  Wei 
Wha,  or  stamp  on  native  bank  orders,  to  signify  that  the 


274  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

paying  bank  will  have  a  day's  grace  within  which  to  pay 
the  cash.  That  is  to  say  that  they  will  not  be  required 
to  pay  until  the  day  after  the  order  became  due.  This 
Wei  Wha  chop  is  an  introduction  of  recent  years  and  has 
been  the  subject  of  considerable  correspondence  between 
the  foreign  merchants  and  the  native  bankers. 


CHAPTER  XI 

BANKS 

The  first  national  bank  of  China  owes  its  origin  to  an 
imperial  edict  which  was  issued  in  the  year  1898.  The 
edict  provided  that  the  bank  should  have  its  headquarters 
at  Shanghai  and  that  the  rules  for  its  government  should 
be  similar  to  those  by  which  European  banks  were  gov- 
erned. In  all  the  centuries  of  China's  history  there  had 
never  been  such  an  institution  as  a  national  bank  recog- 
nized by  an  imperial  edict.  Nowhere  within  the  borders 
of  the  Empire  did  such  an  institution  exist.  But  now 
there  is  an  imperial  bank  not  only  at  Shanghai,  but  also 
at  Tientsin  and  at  Hankow,  and  probably  there  will  soon  be 
similar  banks  in  all  the  principal  ports  of  China.  If  the 
central  government  had  the  confidence  of  the  native  mer- 
chants, the  imperial  bank  might  prove  a  formidable  rival 
to  the  foreign  banks  doing  business  in  China,  but  that 
confidence  is  not  given  to  the  extent  of  any  assured  basis 
of  success. 

What  I  intend  to  write  about,  however,  in  this  chapter 
is  the  system  of  native  banking,  which  the  Chinese  origi- 
nated before  banking  was  known  in  western  countries, 
and  which  has  answered  their  business  needs. 

When  a  Chinaman  wishes  to  engage  in  banking,  he 
should  first  be  sure  that  his  financial  standing  is  good 
among  his  neighbours,  and  that  he  has  sufficient  capital  to 
ensure  reasonable  success.  When  satisfied  as  to  these  two 
requisites,  he  may  then  select  a  suitable  house  and  hang 

376 


276  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

out  his  sign,  on  which  he  announces  his  business  to  the 
public.  He  may  be  alone,  or  he  may  have  associates,  and 
the  latter  is  more  the  custom.  There  is  no  necessity  for 
petitioning  to  any  official  authority  for  permission,  and  no 
charter  is  required.  Thus  it  appears  that  no  business 
could  be  entered  upon  more  simply  in  China  than 
banking. 

I  have  before  me  a  pamphlet  devoted  exclusively  to 
Chinese  currency  and  banking,  by  Wong  Kai-Kah,  and  as 
I  have  not  read  a  clearer  and  simpler  exposition  of  the 
native  system  of  banking  in  China,  I  make  the  following 
quotation  from  it  :  — 

"  The  smallest  business  done  in  a  purely  financial  line 
is  that  of  the  money-changer,  who  starts  business  with  a 
thousand  or  a  few  hundred  dollars,  the  greater  part  oi 
which  consists  of  small  coins.  He  hires  one  side  of  a 
shop,  provides  himself  with  a  chest,  a  small  counter,  and 
a  few  books.  These  money-changers  are  found  in  every 
street  at  certain  intervals.  Their  sign-board,  with  the 
word  'Money-Changer,'  is  conspicuously  hung  out,  and 
pasted  against  the  window  of  their  shop  is  a  bill  in- 
forming the  public  of  the  value  of  a  dollar  in  cash  or 
small  coins,  according  to  the  daily  local  rate.  This  rate 
is  fixed  by  the  money-changers'  guild,  which  in  turn  is 
governed  by  the  guild  of  bankers,  who,  more  than  the 
authorities,  control  the  local  money-market.  The  money 
changers  make  about  five  cents  for  changing  a  dollar  into 
cash,  and  if  you  take  the  same  amount  of  cash  to  another 
money-changer  to  get  a  dollar,  you  will  have  to  pay  him 
five  cents  for  premium.  In  case  of  a  British  or  American 
sailor,  the  victim  pays  a  little  more,  but  the  jolly  jack, 
bent  on  a  good  time,  seems  never  to  mind  an  extra  cent 
or  two. 

"  The  capital  of  the  local  banks  ranges  from  10,000  taels 


BANKS  277 

upward.  Tliey  are  found  in  all  large  towns  and  cities, 
some  of  them  paying  interest  on  deposits,  and  all  are  sub- 
ject to  the  full  amount  of  their  liabilities,  the  word  '  lim- 
ited '  having  never  been  employed  as  a  safeguard,  as  they 
think  that  to  limit  their  capital  or  liabilities  would  only 
destroy  their  financial  standing.  The  more  important 
banks  may  be  divided,  for  convenience  of  treatment,  into 
three  classes,  viz.  :  banks  in  Chinese  cities;  banks  in 
Hongkong  and  foreign  settlements ;  banks  which  are 
organized  on  the  modern  foreign  system. 

"  The  typical  native  bank  in  any  Chinese  city,  unlike 
the  palatial  banking-houses  of  Europe  and  America,  has  a 
very  common-looking  appearance.  It  has  no  iron  vaults 
or  strongly  built  stone  basement  against  fire,  though  great 
precaution  is  exercised  against  robbery.  I  suppose  this  is 
because  banks  are  not  required  by  law  to  keep  on  hand  a 
large  deposit  as  security  against  the  issuing  of  notes. 
They  are  entirely  local  enterprises  for  the  facility  of  mer- 
chants and  traders,  and  receive  deposits  for  which  they 
pay  from  five  to  eight  per  cent  per  annum,  the  rate  vary- 
ing according  to  the  condition  of  the  money-market  at  the 
time  of  deposit,  and  the  number  of  months  the  money  is 
to  be  deposited,  the  shortest  period  being  six  months. 
There  is,  however,  some  latitude  in  drawing  deposits  from 
a  bank.  Suppose  I  deposited  $500  for  six  months  in  a 
well-known  bank,  with  which  I  do  considerable  business. 
If  four  months  after  my  deposit  I  have  an  urgent  bill  to 
pay,  I  ask  the  bank  to  accommodate  me,  which  it  generally 
does,  provided  I  pajs  say,  three  months'  interest.  In  this 
way  the  bank  makes  a  small  gain,  while  the  depositor  is 
saved  from  embarrassment.  The  bank  invariably  gives 
the  depositor  a  receipt  on  which  is  specified  whether  the 
money  is  to  be  drawn  by  the  depositor  himself  or  simply 
by  the  bearer.     The  amount  of  interest  is  also  put  down 


278  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

and  the  date.  In  case  the  depositor  is  to  draw  the  money, 
no  other  person  will  be  given  the  money  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  case  of  mistake  the  bank  bears  all 
losses.  But  if  the  receipt  specifies  that  the  money  may  be 
drawn  by  the  bearer,  any  one,  even  a  thief  who  had  stolen 
the  document,  may  draw  the  money,  the  depositor  being 
the  loser.  In  case  the  receipt  is  burned  or  stolen,  the 
depositor  must  give  timely  notice  and  bring  to  the  bank 
a  reliable  and  trustworthy  person  to  testify  to  his  words 
and  become  surety.  When  the  bank  is  satisfied,  a  new 
receipt  is  made  out,  the  lost  one  being  no  more  valid. 
The  depositor  is  also  given  an  interest  book,  marked  with 
the  stamp  and  signature  of  the  bankers.  With  this  book 
the  depositor  may  draw  his  interest  by  the  month  or  by 
the  quarter,  as  agreed  upon  between  the  parties.  The 
local  banks  sometimes  issue  a  limited  amount  of  notes, 
but  these  have  no  wide  circulation  unless  the  bank  has  an 
old  standing  and  is  in  a  strong  financial  position.  This 
status  of  a  bank  is  ascertained  by  'watchers,'  who  are 
employed  by  banks  and  commercial  houses,  and  whose 
sole  business  is  to  make  daily  visits  to  the  banks  and 
closely  observe  their  dealings  and  financial  conditions. 
Bank  notes  or  promissory  bills  are  issued  only  by  leading 
bankers  in  a  city,  varying  in  value  from  50  cents  to 
$1000,  and  supplying  many  advantages,  with  but  very 
little  danger.  The  blue,  black,  and  red  colours,  which  are 
blended  together  with  many  private  signatures  and  fan- 
ciful indorsings  on  these  bills,  give  them  a  rather  gay 
appearance.  The  name  of  the  issuing  house  and  the 
characters  or  words,  traced  around  the  face  in  bright  blue 
ink,  form  the  original  impression.  The  date  of  issue  and 
some  ingeniously  wrought  cipher,  device,  or  monogram, 
and  the  spaces  marked  for  the  reception  of  signatures  and 
certain  mystic  or  secret  marks  for  the  prevention  of  for- 


BANKS  279 

geries,  are  of  deep  red.  The  entry  of  the  sum,  the  names 
of  the  partners  and  cashiers,  stand  forth  in  large  black 
characters.  On  the  back  are  the  indorsements  of  various 
individuals  through  whose  hands  the  note  has  passed,  in 
order  to  trace  the  course  of  the  note  and  facilitate  the 
detection  of  forgery.  The  indorsers  of  these  notes  are 
not,  however,  liable  or  responsible  for  any  irregularities. 
These  notes  are  not  regarded  as  legal  tender,  but  accepted 
on  good  business  faith,  and  redeemable  in  silver  dollars  or 
copper  cash  on  presentation.  The  issuing  of  these  notes 
enables  the  bankers  to  divert  their  capital  for  other  legiti- 
mate business,  and  may  thus  increase  their  earnings.  For 
their  own  interest  bankers  do  not  issue  of  these  notes  more 
than  they  can  readily  redeem  in  case  of  a  rush,  which 
often  happens  when  some  rival  house  or  an  evil  person 
spreads  the  rumour  that  a  bank  is  not  in  a  firm  position. 

"New  banks  whose  credit  is  not  considered  well  es- 
tablished by  the  commercial  community  never  attempt  to 
issue  such  notes,  because  they  will  never  be  accepted  by 
the  public.  Age  and  long-standing  reputation  mean 
everything  to  the  Chinese  merchant. 

"  There  are  various  ways  of  making  money  for  the 
native  banks.  If  they  are  agents  of  some  provincial 
banks,  they  discount  bills.  They  often  deal  in  bills  of 
exchange,  acting  as  agents  of  Chinese  banks  in  Hong- 
kong, Macao,  or  Shanghai,  where  bills  may  come  from 
emigrants  residing  in  the  United  States,  Australia,  or 
other  foreign  countries.  They  receive  deposits,  which  are 
lent  out  to  merchants  at  a  good  profit.  In  lending  out 
their  money  they  ascertain  by  their  watchers  the  business 
standing,  character,  and  financial  position  of  the  applicant, 
and  if  they  are  satisfied,  the  money  is  loaned  on  good 
personal  security,  which  is  nothing  more  than  business 
faith.     The  applicant,  of  course,  refers  the  bankers  to  some 


280  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

reliable  business  men,  who  act  as  security,  usually  receiv- 
ing something  for  their  trouble  and  risk,  for,  if  the 
applicant  fails  to  pay  the  loan,  the  security  has  to  be 
responsible  for  the  whole  debt. 

"  There  is  a  saying  in  China  that  a  man  will  be  com- 
paratively happy  if  he  is  not  a  witness  or  a  surety  in 
any  case.  It  seldom  happens  that  a  loan  is  secured  on 
mortgages  of  real  estate,  though  goods  and  merchandise 
may  be  handed  over  to  the  banker,  who  will  advance 
the  money.  In  Shantung,  Szechuan,  and  other  places, 
bankers  have  large  go-downs,  in  which  they  stow  grain, 
bees'  wax,  medicinal  herbs,  and  other  stuff,  deposited  as 
security  by  their  customers.  They  also  make  a  large 
profit  by  the  handling  of  silver.  In  receiving  silver  dollars 
by  weight  for  payment  they  require  the  clean  dollar, 
which  must  not  be  marked  by  ink,  or  vermilion,  but  in 
paying  out  they  stamp  it  with  their  own  mark,  with  ink 
on  one  side  and  vermilion  on  the  other.  They  warrant 
the  coin  to  be  good  as  long  as  their  mark  is  on  it,  but  in 
case  their  mark  is  obliterated  they  will  not  be  responsible. 
The  difference  in  weight  of  the  coin  becomes  their  profit. 
When  the  foreign  trade  was  concentrated  in  Canton,  one 
bank  made  $100,000  in  one  year  from  this  source  alone. 
Many  banks  have  a  %ycee  mint  of  their  own  for  the  coining 
of  silver  '  shoes'  or  lumps.  All  the  Mexican  dollars  that 
have  been  either  chopped,  or  clipped,  or  have  no  standard 
ring  in  them,  are  melted  and  cast  into  sycees  of  five,  ten,  or 
fifty  taels.  On  these  'shoes'  of  silver  the  names  of  the 
bankers  and  workmen  and  the  date  are  stamped,  the  firm 
issuing  the  silver  being  held  responsible  for  any  irregular- 
ity. The  way  bankers  make  a  profit  from  their  mint  is 
as  follows  :  they  buy  from  brokers  whose  business  is  to 
purchase  silver  dollars  of  a  low  standard,  or  not  passable 
at  the  full  rate,  from  shops  and  money-changers.     These 


BANKS  281 

dollars  are  bought  at  a  price  far  below  the  value  of  the 
silver  in  them,  the  brokers,  by  their  experience  and  train- 
ing, being  able  to  judge  with  great  accuracy  the  market 
value  of  such  coins.  The  brokers  sell  these  suspicious 
dollars  to  the  bankers  at  a  small  profit,  and  the  bankers 
in  turn  melt  the  coins  down,  and  extract  the  pure  silver, 
which  is  cast  into  '  shoes '  of  8ycee.  The  banker's  margin 
of  profit  is  the  real  value  of  the  silver  extracted  from  a 
dollar  above  the  price  he  paid  for  it. 

"  The  Chinese  banks  which  do  business  in  the  foreign 
settlements,  such  as  Hongkong,  Shanghai,  Tientsin,  and 
other  places,  differ  from  banks  in  purely  Chinese  cities  in 
only  one  respect,  which  is,  that  they  do  business  much  more 
on  real  estate  security  than  they  do  on  personal  security. 
This  adoption  of  real  estate  securities  in  the  foreign  settle- 
ments is  a  means  of  safeguarding  the  banker's  own  in- 
terests, because  it  often  happens  that  in  a  lawsuit  heard 
in  the  consular  or  in  the  mixed  court,  a  personal  security, 
with  nothing  more  than  a  record  of  the  transaction  in 
their  books,  is  in  many  cases  not  considered  sufficient 
evidence.  Being  made  wiser  by  foreigners  and  western 
methods  of  business,  they  have  thus  been  obliged  to 
demand  solid  securities  beyond  the  standing  and  reputa- 
tion of  those  who  negotiate  for  loans.  Technicalities  of 
western  law  rather  puzzle  the  mind  of  Chinese  merchants, 
so  that  in  large  and  important  transactions  a  European 
lawyer  is  generally  employed  to  draw  up  the  deeds. 
Money  is  lent  on  mortgages,  and  bankers  will  accept  bills 
of  lading  or  receipts  from  foreign  firms  through  whom 
the  borrower  has  ordered  goods,  such  bills  or  receipts  in 
these  cases  being  invariably  indorsed  by  some  shipping 
firm  or  business  house.  These  banks  do  a  large  business 
among  the  Chinese  merchants  of  the  treaty  ports,  and 
even  with   foreign   countries,  from  which   their  Chinese 


282  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

agents  will  remit  the  money  sent  by  emigrants  to  the 
interior  of  China.  In  these  latter  instances  the  banks 
make  something  by  the  exchange,  and  the  depreciation  of 
silver  has  somewhat  increased  the  earnings  of  the  banks 
by  remittances  and  drafts." 

I  do  not  think  that  any  apology  will  be  considered  nec- 
essary for  the  length  of  the  above  quotation  from  Mr. 
Wong's  pamphlet.  Being  a  native  of  China  and  having 
been  educated  at  one  of  the  principal  American  colleges, 
he  has  been  able  to  express  in  clear  English  his  experience 
and  knowledge  of  the  banking  system  of  his  own  country. 
My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  and  my  own  observa- 
tions convince  me  of  the  accuracy  of  his  exposition. 

But  there  is  a  peculiarity  in  oriental  life  which  many, 
more  or  less  familiar  with  it,  too  often  forget.  It  is  that 
the  occupation  of  the  father  is  invariably  that  of  the  son. 
It  is  this  peculiarity  which  has  enabled  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province  of  Shansi  to  monopolize  the  banking  busi- 
ness in  the  large  and  influential  commercial  centres  of  the 
Chinese  Empire.  It  appears  that  for  as  many  as  a  thou- 
sand years  the  inhabitants  of  that  province  have  prided 
themselves  on  furnishing  the  leading  bankers,  and  they 
have  done  so,  for  the  Shansi  bankers  are  the  most  numer- 
ous and  influential  who  transact  their  business  by  purely 
native  methods.  "  They  have  worked  out  among  them- 
selves a  very  high  commercial  morality  by  a  vigorous 
domestic  discipline." 

How  the  Shansi  bankers  have  maintained,  for  so  long  a 
period,  their  high  commercial  morality  and  their  great 
influence  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  Empire,  is  explained 
in  the  following  extract  by  T.  W.  Wright  of  the  Imperial 
Maritime  Customs  Service  :  — 

"  A  peculiar  feature  in  the  constitution  of  these  banks 
is  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which  the  employees  are 


BANKS  283 

treated.  The  bankers  themselves,  being  Shansi  men,  em- 
ploy only  natives  of  that  province,  and,  when  possible, 
select  men  out  of  their  own  villages.  When  a  man  is  ap- 
pointed to  a  post  at  one  of  the  branch  offices,  his  family 
is  taken  charge  of  by  the  bank,  and  held  as  security  for 
fidelity  and  good  behaviour.  At  his  post  the  employee 
may  send  no  letter  to  his  family,  except  an  open  one 
through  his  master ;  he  receives  no  pay  or  salary  of  any 
kind  while  away ;  officials  are  entertained,  clothing  is 
purchased  as  required,  and  sundry  expenses  are  incurred, 
and  every  item  is  met  with  the  bank's  money,  the  strictest 
account  being  kept  of  all  expenditure  on  behalf  of  the 
individual.  A  man  holds  his  appointment  for  three  years, 
and  then  returns  to  his  employer's  house,  taking  with  him 
the  account  of  the  money  expended  during  his  term ;  he 
is  duly  searched,  and  the  clothing  he  has  purchased  under- 
goes examination.  Should  it  happen,  after  examination, 
that  the  accounts,  etc.,  are  satisfactory,  and  the  affairs  of 
the  bank  have  been  prospering  during  the  man's  tenure  of 
office,  he  is  handsomely  rewarded,  and  is  allowed  to  join 
his  family,  who  are  immediately  released.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  business  has  not  prospered  under  the  man's 
management,  and  he  has  presented  an  unsatisfactory  ac- 
count, clothing  and  everything  are  retained,  and  the 
family  are  held  in  bondage  until  a  suitable  tine  is  paid,  or 
the  man  himself  may  be  imprisoned." 

The  Shansi  bankers  are  not  to  be  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  any  other  class  of  bankers  in  China.  They  are 
independent  of  the  average  local  bankers,  and  move  in  a 
wholly  different  sphere  of  business.  Many  of  the  Shansi 
banks  may  be  said  to  enjoy  a  semi-governmental  charac- 
ter, in  that  the  money  due  from  the  provinces  to  the  cen- 
tral government  is  remitted  through  those  banks.  They 
are  also  used  as  banks  of  deposit  by  a  large  number  of 


284  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

high  officials,  and  in  that  way  keep  up  a  ver}^  influential 
relation  with  official  China.  But  the  Shansi  banks  have 
another  way  of  keeping  in  close  touch  with  official  China: 
they  advance  money  to  officials  who  find  it  necessary, 
as  too  often  happens,  to  obtain  preferment  or  advance- 
ment by  paying  for  it.  When  such  is  the  case,  the  Shansi 
bankers,  who  always  appear  to  have  an  ample  supply  of 
ready  money,  seldom  refuse  to  extend  the  desired  accom- 
modation, but  at  the  same  time  they  protect  themselves  in 
sundry  ways. 

In  one  sense,  and  perhaps  the  better,  these  banks  asso- 
ciate together  in  a  guild  of  their  own  which  is  organized 
for  mutual  protection.  The  members  of  the  bankers' 
guild  are  usually  the  heads  of  the  principal  banks.  They 
meet  at  regular  intervals  to  discuss  matters  relating  to 
their  business  and  to  formulate  lines  of  policy  to  be 
followed. 

The  Shansi  bankers  are  not  in  the  habit  of  making 
public  the  regulations,  the  close  adherence  to  which  has 
enabled  them  not  only  to  win  success,  but  to  hold  and  im- 
prove it.  A  regulation  of  the  Wuhu  bankers'  guild  shows 
the  power  it  exercises  over  members.  After  having  stated 
"that  many  irregularities  having  recently  been  discov- 
ered, it  is  desirable  to  put  a  stop  to  them  without  delay, 
the  bankers  have  accordingly  drawn  up,  and  sworn  to 
abide  by,  the  following  rules  and  penalties  for  infringe- 
ment," the  regulations  proceed :  — 

"1.  All  bankers  when  exchanging  sycee  into  Carolus 
or  Mexican  dollars,  must  calculate  the  exchange  at  the 
rate  posted  on  the  guild  notice-board.  Any  banker  giv- 
ing or  accepting  a  different  rate  will  be  fined  $100. 
2.  In  issuing  drafts  on  Shanghai,  the  exchange  shall 
be  calculated  according  to  the  guild  notice-board,  and  the 
time  limited  to  ten  days  after  sight,  or  to  a  maximum  of 


BANKS  285 

twelve  days  from  the  date  of  the  draft.  Any  banker  giv- 
ing or  accepting  a  lower  rate  or  longer  time  to  be  fined 
8100."  Rules  3  and  4  are  of  no  interest,  but  the  fifth 
rule  is  as  follows :  — 

"  Every  banker  must  attend  at  the  guild  house  on  the 
fifteenth  of  each  month,  to  decide  on  the  rates  of  exchange, 
interest,  etc.,  and  post  them  on  the  notice-board.  Any 
one  adopting  a  different  rate  to  that  decided  on  to  be 
fined  8100.  6.  No  bankers  are  allowed  to  grant  favours 
by  ante-dating  or  post-dating  drafts.  Penalty  for  in- 
fringement 8100.  7.  Every  banker  must  deposit  8100 
with  the  guild,  at  interest  at  the  rate  of  three  mace  per  ten 
days.  If  any  banker  breaks  the  rules,  his  deposit  will  be 
forfeited  to  pay  the  fine  ;  if  there  is  no  infringement  in  one 
year,  the  interest  will  be  payable  in  the  first  month  of  the 
following  year.  8.  Any  banker  who  has  once  been  fined 
must  again  deposit  with  the  guild  8100.  If  this  amount 
is  not  deposited,  the  defaulter  will  be  expelled  from  the 
guild  and  boycotted.  Any  member  of  the  guild  doing 
business  with  a  defaulter  will  be  fined  8100.  9.  Any 
person  who  denounces  to  the  guild  a  banker  who  has 
infringed  the  rules  shall  receive  one-half  of  the  fine  of 
8100,  while  the  other  half  will  go  to  the  funds  of  the 
guild.  10.  If,  when  books  are  balanced  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  it  is  discovered  that  any  member  by  underhand 
dealing,  not  covered  by  any  of  the  foregoing  rules,  has 
caused  loss  to  any  other  member,  the  offender's  deposit  of 
8100  shall  be  forfeited,  and  he  shall  be  suspended  until  he 
makes  good  all  such  losses." 

The  Shanghai  bankers'  guild  has  two  branches,  and 
regulations  for  each.  Those  for  the  northern  branch 
read  as  follows  :  — 

"  Dollars.  —  In  paying  out  new  dollars  the  issuer  must 
imprint  them  with  his  seal  (washing  out  the  previous 


286  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

imprint),  otherwise  they  shall  not  be  current.  Disregard 
of  this  rule  entails  a  penalty.  According  to  former  rule, 
ten  kinds  of  dollars  are  uncurrentable  —  to  wit,  the  light, 
dull-coloured,  flowery-spotted,  dull-sounding,  copper- 
alloyed,  edges  unusual,  three  stars,  circles  (?)  on  the  re- 
verse, head  upside  down,  yellowish  hue,  white  —  to  which 
is  added,  such  as  have  unusually  fine  edges. 

"  Sycee.  —  Bills  from  or  to  foreign  banks  (and  merchants 
generally)  that  accompany  boxes  of  ingots  are  not  to  be 
altered  ;  they  are  to  indicate  the  number,  weight,  value 
in  dollars,  the  premium  or  discount,  all  in  capitals,  not 
in  running  hand  ;  also  the  date,  the  bank  by  which  issued, 
and  seal,  in  order  to  prevent  irregularities.  New  bills 
must  be  out,  descriptive  of  the  ingots  ;  when  any  are 
taken  out  of  the  lot,  the  old  one  to  be  cancelled. 

"  The  bills  accompanying  sycee  that  are  issued  by  the 
banks  of  the  guild  are  for  outsiders  only,  and  not  for 
guild  banks  circulation  (those  of  the  northern  branch 
are  at  a  premium  compared  with  the  southern).  When 
payments  from  foreign  banks  to  guild  banks  are  in  ingots, 
a  descriptive  bill  is  to  accompany  them,  having  first  the 
seal  of  the  foreign  bank,  that  when  found  deficient,  they 
may  be  returned.  When  the  amount  of  ingots  to  be  paid 
by  a  foreign  bank  exceeds  fifty  (as  a  rule  there  are  fifty 
to  a  box),  the  balance  is  to  be  paid  in  notes.  When  a 
guild  bank  has  to  pay  a  foreign  bank  less  than  fifty,  it 
must  make  out  a  descriptive  bill,  and  seal  it.  When 
inferior  sycee  is  paid  by  a  foreign  bank,  it  is  to  be  re- 
turned the  next  day  by  noon  (or  if  Sunday  intervene,  on 
Monday). 

"  Miscellaneous.  —  Checks  for  less  denomination  than 
ten  dollars  are  non-receivable.  Guild  banks  having  notes 
to  be  cashed  at  foreign  banks  shall  present  them  before 
3  P.M.,  except  on  Saturdays,  when  they  shall  present  them 


BANKS  287 

by  11  A.M.  When  a  foreign  bank  pays  to  a  guild  bank  a 
round  sum  in  ingots,  the  latter  shall  make  out  a  bill  for 
the  balance." 

Those  for  the  southern  branch  are  :  — 

"  Interest.  —  Loans  of  ingots  are  to  be  charged  at  the 
rate  of  seven  mace  per  diem  for  a  thousand  dollars  ;  the 
smaller  charge  for  dollars  is  in  conformity  with  orders 
from  the  mandarinate.  For  all  checks  cashed  the  sender 
is  to  be  charged  as  under  the  old  rules,  —  from  three  to 
five  mace,  for  every  thousand  taels. 

"  Against  Speculating.  —  In  buying  and  selling  ingots 
and  dollars  all  settlements  must  be  made  on  the  day  of 
the  transaction,  —  that  thereby  there  shall  be  no  empty 
buying  and  selling.  (This  rule  also  is  conformable  to 
magisterial  mandate  :  until  its  formulation,  not  long  since, 
the  exchange  of  the  northern  branch  of  Shangliai  banks 
exhibited  the  same  maddening  scenes  as  those  which 
occurred  among  Ningpo  bankers,  as  already  described.) 

"  Clearing-house.  —  Each  money-dealer  must  send  his 
books  to  the  exchange  twice  a  day,  to  square  accounts, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  manager  for  the  month. 

"  When  orders  are  made  payable  in  old  dollars,  old 
dollars  are  to  be  furnished  ;  but  when  the  kind  of  dollars 
is  not  specified,  payment  may  be  made  in  those  in  ordinary 
use  by  the  bank. 

"  These  rules,  supplementary  to  the  old  ones,  conduce 
to  the  promotion  of  business.  We  unite  in  establishing 
them,  and  they  should  be  loyally  observed ;  their  infringe- 
ment shall  be  inquired  into,  and  summarily  punished." 

It  may  be  repeated  in  this  connection  that  a  traveller 
in  China  should  have  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  all  neces- 
sary pecuniary  accommodation,  whether  he  travels  in  the 
provinces  bordering  the  extreme  limits  of  the  Empire  or 
nearer  to   the   open  ports.      The   system    of    exchange 


288  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

between  native  banks  is  so  perfectly  arranged  that  one 
can  travel  with  a  letter  of  credit  in  China  about  as  con- 
veniently as  in  Europe  or  America,  and  the  information 
is  easily  obtainable  as  to  the  financial  standing  of  any 
bank  against  which  a  check  may  be  offered.  The  banks 
for  the  transmission  of  money  from  one  part  of  the  Empire 
to  another  are  known  as  exchange  banks,  and  such  banks 
are  almost  all  controlled  by  the  Shansi  bankers. 

But  these  exchange  banks  do  not  as  a  rule  receive 
deposits  from  the  public.  The  reason  given  for  that 
policy  is  the  fear  of  damage  to  their  credit.  They  have 
their  agents  in  every  important  business  quarter  where 
customers  are  likely  to  be  found,  and  the  duty  of  these 
agents  is  to  inquire  and  inform  themselves  fully  as  to  the 
business  standing  of  all  such,  and  to  gauge  accurately  their 
credit  and  report  it.  Sometimes  the  exchange  banks  will 
receive  money  on  deposit  from  the  government  or  from 
high-grade  officials,  but  when  this  is  done,  the  banks  do 
not  pay  more  than  five  or  six  per  cent  per  annum,  as  it  is 
regarded  more  as  a  favour  to  the  depositor  than  as  an 
accommodation  to  the  bank. 

Another  rule  of  the  exchange  banks  is  not  to  loan 
money  on  land  or  houses.  Most  of  their  loans  are  made 
to  the  local  banks,  and  these  last  advance  it  in  trade  on 
personal  security.  Another  custom  is  that  the  advances 
made  by  a  local  bank  to  a  merchant  are  made  on  personal 
security  and  not  against  the  merchandise. 

In  some  places  it  is  the  custom  that  when  a  bank  fails 
to  discharge  its  obligations  on  the  presentation  of  bills,  by 
immediately  redeeming  them,  the  holder  has  the  right  to 
seize  any  property  of  the  bank  sufficient  in  value  to  pay 
his  bill,  and  to  take  it  away  with  him  ;  he  would  not  be 
liable  to  prosecution  either  for  theft  or  for  a  misde- 
meanour.    There  have  been  instances  of  a  conspiracy  to 


BANKS  289 

rifle  a  bank  of  its  contents  by  the  conspirators  calling  in  a 
body  and  presenting  their  bills  with  loud  outcries  and 
threatening  demands.  On  one  occasion  a  gang  of  con- 
spirators undertook  to  plunder  a  bank,  but  when  it  was 
learned  that  they  had  no  money  in  the  bank,  and  that 
their  aim  was  plunder,  a  vigorous  viceroy  had  their  heads 
taken  off  in  front  of  the  bank's  building. 

When  a  bank  is  apprehensive  that  a  run  is  about  to  be 
made  on  it,  and  is  not  fully  prepared  to  meet  it,  the  pre- 
caution is  taken  to  make  publication  that  the  bank  will 
"hereafter  pay."  When  such  a  publication  is  made, 
custom  forbids  any  interference  with  the  bank.  But  the 
words  "hereafter  pay"  do  not  mean  that  the  bank  is 
unable  to  meet  its  obligations,  but  rather  are  somewhat  in 
the  nature  of  a  plea  for  time,  as  the  real  significance  of  the 
notification  is  that  the  bank  is  able  to  redeem  its  bills  and 
will  do  so.  It  further  implies  that  the  bank  will  not  issue 
any  more  bills  at  present,  or  that  it  is  desirous  of  closing 
up  its  business. 

In  China  as  well  as  in  other  countries  there  are  counter- 
feiters, and  the  bills  of  Chinese  banks,  although  made 
with  care  to  prevent  their  being  counterfeited,  have  not 
escaped  the  skill  of  such  offenders.  When  proved  against 
one,  counterfeiting  is  a  capital  crime  ;  but  it  is  a  common 
saying  in  China  that  even  a  thief  is  not  complained  of  or 
molested  by  his  neighbours  unless  he  should  steal  from 
them.  Neighbours  do  not  interfere  in  what  does  not 
personally  concern  themselves.  They  aim  to  live  in  peace 
and  free  from  official  interference,  and  are  not  going  to 
intervene  in  matters  that  do  not  involve  the  good  order 
of  their  neighbourhood.  A  skilful  counterfeiter,  however, 
is  managed  in  a  peculiar  Chinese  fashion.  When  one  is 
known  to  have  extraordinary  ability  as  a  counterfeiter,  he 
soon  becomes  known  to  the  banks.     No  attempt  is  made 


290  CHIKA  IN   LAW  AKD   COMMERCE 

to  have  him  arrested,  but  word  is  conveyed  to  him  that  if 
he  will  cease  Ms  operations,  he  may  feel  confident  that  at 
stated  intervals  he  will  promptly  receive  a  certain  sum  of 
money  agreed  upon.  There  is  customarily  the  additional 
stipulation,  that  if  this  head-master  in  counterfeiting 
should  have  students  under  him  to  whom  he  was  teaching 
the  art,  a  larger  sum  would  be  paid  upon  the  condition 
that  the  class  was  adjourned  sine  die.  Such  is  one  way  in 
which  Chinese  banks  protect  themselves.  Possibly  the 
lowland  Scotchmen  borrowed  the  idea  when  they  paid 
Rob  Roy  and  secured  his  protection  for  their  flocks 
against  other  Highland  marauders.  In  both  instances  the 
remedy  is  very  effective. 

The  Chinese  have  high  regard  for  promptness  in  busi- 
ness. They  are  law-abiding  and  appreciate  the  fact  that 
successful  business  demands  order  and  respect  for  estab- 
lished custom.  They  are  merchants  by  nature  and  believe 
that  the  surest  foundation  of  prosperous  business  is  an 
orderly  state  of  society. 

There  are  foreign  banks  at  nearly  all  the  treaty  ports  of 
China  open  to  foreign  trade,  and  the  facility  and  con- 
venience given  to  business  of  every  description  by  the 
native  and  foreign  banks  leave  but  little  to  be  desired  in 
the  department  of  banking.  Foreign  and  native  mer- 
chants have  only  to  exhibit  the  credentials  which  entitle 
them  to  confidence,  and  the  favour  of  the  banks  will 
generally  be  extended. 

But  the  inner  system  of  China's  banking  must  still 
remain  in  many  parts  a  mystery,  until  foreign  intercourse 
opens  wider  the  forbidden  door.  That  it  is  accurately 
based  and  meets  the  necessities  of  native  business,  may 
safely  be  inferred  from  what  is  known  of  this  system. 


CHAPTER  XII 

WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CURRENCY 

In  China  as  in  ancient  Rome  the  first  coinage  was  in 
bronze,  and  the  reason  was  similar.  In  both  cases  bronze 
was  the  metal  of  which  warlike  weapons  had  long  been 
made;  it  was  trustworthy,  had  arrived  at  a  fixed  value, 
and  was  convertible.  In  both  cases,  before  the  issue  of 
bronze  as  a  coin,  the  actual  weapons  had  served  as  a  me- 
dium of  exchange,  and  it  was  this  that  had  suggested  the 
issue  of  the  metal  itself,  with  some  mark  to  guarantee  its 
weight  and  quality,  instead  of  the  weapon  which  had  al- 
ways to  be  weighed  to  ascertain  its  exchangeable  value. 
There  was  at  first  no  fixed  form ;  the  metal  is  to  be  found 
as  simple  cast  drops  marked  with  the  weight,  and  also, 
a  survival  of  the  original  use  of  weapons  themselves,  as 
imitation  swords.  As  the  Romans,  originally  a  pastoral 
people,  counted  their  wealth  in  cattle,  they  placed  on 
their  earliest  coin  the  emblem  of  an  ox ;  the  early  Chinese, 
for  whom  agriculture  had  become  a  religion,  with  the 
like  aim  of  indicating  their  ideas  of  wealth,  made  theirs 
sometimes  in  the  shape  of  a  spade,  which  they  called 
"  spade  money  "  ;  the  word  for  money  here,  in  modern 
Chinese  pz,  being  connected  with  a  widely  extended 
root,  from  which  come  equally  Latin  pretium  and  Greek 
•7rpcun<i^  and  our  own  "price."  Frequently,  too,  the  spade 
assumed  the  shape  of  a  Chinese  jacket  folded  up,  a  form 
readily  derived  from  the  other,  and  representing  one  of 
the  most  common  articles  in  the  market.     At  first  this 

291 


292  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

money  took  the  form  of  mere  tokens  "  exchangeable  for 
goods"  or  for  corn,  and  seems  to  have  been  issued  without 
any  special  authority.  Weights  and  measures  were,  how- 
ever, reduced  early  to  standard,  and  the  "  Songs  of  the 
Five  Children  "  in  the  Shu  King  apparently  refer  to  these 
being  kept  in  the  prince's  treasury.  Some  of  the  earliest 
cash,  too,  state  the  weight  of  metal,  probably  bronze,  against 
which  they  were  interchangeable.  The  names  of  cities  fre- 
quently appear  on  ancient  coins  as  if  these  were  only  cur- 
rent locally.  The  first  state  which  seems  to  have  issued 
coined  money,  as  a  state,  was  Tsi,  in  Shantung,  which 
made  them  in  the  form  of  swords  with  a  round  hole 
through  the  handle  for  the  convenience  of  carrying  on  a 
string,  and  this  example  seems  to  have  been  quickly  fol- 
lowed. Still  the  issuing  of  money  as  a  prerogative  of  the 
state  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  any  of  the  rulers 
prior  to  the  time  of  T'sin  Shi  Hwangti ;  and  neither  he  nor 
any  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  Former  Han  placed  on  the 
coins  issued  by  them  either  the  dates  or  names  ;  and  in- 
deed the  great  traveller  Chang  K'ien,  who  was  the  first 
Chinese  to  penetrate  to  the  states  of  the  west,  —  Baktria, 
Parthia,  and  beyond,  —  remarks,  as  curious,  that  the  rulers 
of  those  states  placed  on  the  face  of  their  coins  their 
effigies,  which  were  changed  in  each  succeeding  reign. 

Larger  transactions  than  mere  buyings  and  sellings  in 
the  local  markets  could,  of  course,  never  have  been  settled 
for  by  coins  of  so  small  value :  the  medium  here  was  metal 
kin,  but  the  particular  metal  is  not  stated  in  the  historic 
books ;  for  although  kin,  in  modern  Chinese,  is  applied 
specifically  to  gold,  it  has  a  more  ancient  and  generic 
application  to  metals  in  general.  With  Mencius  it  is  in- 
variably used  for  bronze,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  its 
most  general  use  in  prehistoric  times  in  China. 

What  is  known,  then,  in  the  age  before  statistics,  is 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CURRENCY  293 

that  China,  after  leaving  the  stage  of  pure  barter,  ex- 
changed the  goods  she  desired  to  dispose  of  against  some 
metal  in  bulk.  In  this  practice  China  agreed  with  the 
other  nations  of  antiquity  of  whom  traces  have  survived. 

Gold  as  a  metal  has  been  known  from  the  earliest 
period,  but  its  use  was  confined  to  personal  ornaments,  for 
which  its  ductility  and  beauty  specially  recommended  it ; 
its  use  as  a  medium  of  exchange  belonged  to  far  later 
times,  and  in  fact  was  introduced  by  King  Darius  as  a 
complete  novelty,  the  coins  thus  issued  after  him  having 
been  known  as  "  darics."  According  to  Herodotus  the 
Lydians  claimed  the  first  invention  of  coins  in  substitu- 
tion for  metals  in  bulk,  and  recent  researches  tend  rather 
to  confirm  than  to  contradict  this  statement  of  the  historian, 
or  at  least  indicate  that  to  the  countries  about  the  -^gean 
is  to  be  attributed  a  reform  so  vital  to  the  growth  of 
commerce.  But  although  gold,  as  a  medium  for  coinage, 
came  into  use  in  the  time  of  Darius,  and  the  use  was  there- 
after copied  in  Macedonia  under  Philip  and  Alexander, 
in  all  these  cases  the  value  of  the  gold  coin  fluctuated 
according  to  the  exchange,  the  other  metal,  be  it  bronze 
or  silver,  being  looked  upon  as  the  more  stable,  and  so  the 
standard,  —  a  state  of  affairs  still  subsisting  throughout 
Asia  generally. 

That  in  China,  in  the  time  of  Mencius,  the  kin  used  in 
these  transactions,  as  was  the  case  contemporaneously  in 
Greece  and  Rome,  was  bronze,  may  be  judged  from  the  rec- 
ords of  his  discourses.  This  sage  was  accused  of  accepting 
bribes ;  he  had  refused  one  of  2400  taels,  which  in  sterling 
would  be  worth,  say,  £5000,  supposing  the  metal  were  gold; 
yet,  said  his  critics,  "  You  took  on  two  separate  occasions 
gifts  of.  1700  taels  and  1200  taels :  how  was  this  ? "  "I 
took  the  1700  taels  because  I  had  to  go  to  Sung  on  busi- 
ness, and  travelling  costs  money,"  was  the  reply.     The 


294  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

journey  to  Sung  would  certainly  not  have  cost  £3500. 
The  other  case  of  the  1200  taels  of  metal,  he  explains,  was 
for  the  purpose  of  arming  himself.  A  friend  had  warned 
him  his  life  was  in  danger,  and  had  sent  him  the  metal  to 
make  weapons^ to  defend  himself  withal.  Taking  the 
metal  at  the  time  in  use  as  bronze,  both  as  arms  and 
as  the  recognized  currency,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  ex- 
plaining the  story. 

It  is  curious  that  in  none  of  the  Confucian  books,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Shu  King,  and  then  only  once  in  con- 
nection with  chased  work,  on  the  borders  of  Tibet,  does 
the  word  "  silver  "  occur,  while  several  times  the  metal  of 
which  arms  were  made,  clearly  bronze,  is  mentioned.  It 
was  not,  of  course,  that  gold  and  silver  were  not  known, 
but  that  they  did  not  come  within  the  ordinary  daily  wants 
of  the  age.  They  were  treasured  as  personal  ornaments 
to  be  handed  down  as  heirlooms,  and  seldom  came  into 
the  market  as  constituents  of  trade. 

In  the  Han  books,  on  the  other  hand,  I  find  yen^  sil- 
ver, gradually  replacing  the  word  hin  as  the  ordinary 
title  for  money.  Still  hwang  kin,  "  yellow  metal,"  occurs 
occasionally  as  the  appellation,  when  gold,  the  metal,  is 
especially  intended.  The  change  was  thus  contempora- 
neous with  the  wide  expansion  of  trade,  incident  on  the 
opening  of  communications  with  the  great  West,  which 
called  for  an  assimilation  of  the  currency  to  that  in  use 
in  the  older  established  Empires  of  western  Asia. 

Now  it  is  noteworthy  that  China  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  solitary  in  this  early  confusion  between  bronze  and 
gold,  both  words  in  many  of  the  older  languages  being 
traceable  to  the  same  root.  Thus  Sanscrit  has  hrikus  and 
hiranam,  both  connected  with  an  older  form  hri-  or  hary-, 
and  referring  merely  to  the  colour,  tawny  yellow,  of  both. 
Similarly,  the  Greek  x^^'^o':  and  "Xfivao^  are  closely  con- 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND  CURRENCr  295 

nected.  Gothic  gulth,  the  modern  English  "  gold,"  has  a 
similar  origin,  and  though  there  is  no  corresponding  title 
for  bronze,  the  name  adopted,  allied  with  "burn"  and 
"  brown,"  shows  the  prevalence  of  a  similar  idea.  So  Latin 
aes  (aeris)  is  not  remotely  connected  with  aurum,  and  both 
find  an  explanation  in  the  root  of  ardeo,  to  glow. 

Iron  had  been  long  before  discovered,  probably  about 
fifteen  centuries  before  Christ,  and  was  certainly  largely 
used  in  agricultural  tools.  As  iron  it  was,  of  course,  un- 
suitable for  weapons,  as  swords  and  armour,  and  the  metal- 
lurgy of  steel  was  not  sufficiently  perfected  to  render  it 
trustworthy  for  such  uses.  Hence  the  use  of  bronze  was 
extended  far  into  the  iron  age,  and  indeed  has  only  within 
the  last  half  century  finally  died  out,  as  the  continued  use 
of  the  English  word  "  gun-metal,"  for  one  of  its  varieties, 
still  remains  to  indicate. 

In  no  country  can  the  consideration  of  the  currency 
be  dissociated  from  the  wider  question  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  this  consideration  will  enable  one,  per- 
haps, to  throw  light  on  the  earliest  systems  current  in 
China.  Although,  in  the  times  of  the  Chow  states  in 
northern  China,  there  were  already  attempts  made  to 
establish  some  common  system  of  weights  and  measures, 
for  various  reasons,  probably  connected  with  the  jeal- 
ousies existing  between  the  different  petty  kingdoms, 
each  independent  of  the  other,  but  little  progress  was 
made.  It  was  not  till  the  time  of  the  "  First  Emperor," 
T'sin  Shi  Hwangti,  that  any  scheme  of  unification  became 
possible.  Before,  however,  proceeding  with  any  reforms 
of  measures  and  currency,  Shi  Hwangti  found  it  advisable 
to  unify  the  systems  of  writing  then  prevailing,  which 
were  still  in  the  most  inchoate  condition.  With  this 
object  in  view  he  called  in  the  aid  of  his  celebrated 
minister,  Li-Sse,  and  established  the  college  of  the  Poh- 


296  CHINA   IN    LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Sse,  composed  of  seventy  of  the  most  learned  professors 
of  the  day.  The  result  was  the  formation  of  the  Siao- 
chwen  ("small  seal  character"),  which  has  formed  the 
basis  of  written  Chinese  ever  since.  The  different  states 
varied  so  much  in  speech  that  colloquially  they  found  it 
difficult  to  converse,  but  the  newly  invented  system  of 
writing  supplied  the  want  for  the  written  speech. 

The  next  task  seems  to  have  been  the  unification  of  the 
currency,  and  that  was  no  less  difficult.  Unfortunately 
there  is  no  such  record  of  the  steps  taken,  and  one  is 
thrown  back  on  the  remains  of  the  coins  illustrated  in 
such  works  as  the  Kin-shih-soh^  which  are  by  no  means 
detailed,  nor  of  unquestionable  authority.  Coins  were 
issued  bearing  the  inscription  pan-liang  (half-tael)  ;  as 
these  coins  are  said  to  have  been  of  the  diameter  of  1.3 
chun  (Chinese  inches,  probably  about  1.66  English),  this 
weight,  which  in  modern  measure  would  amount  to  about 
2.90  grains,  probably  represented  their  true  weight.  The 
history  of  the  Chinese  cash  is  thus  by  no  means  unlike 
that  of  the  Roman  as.  Like  the  as,  it  was  first  issued  of 
the  full  weight,  but  quickly  degenerated  and  became  a 
mere  token. 

The  word  "  liang,^^  to  represent  a  weight,  seems  here  to 
appear  for  the  first  time.  In  modern  times  there  are  in 
China,  as  is  well  known,  two  series  of  weights  in  use,  one 
for  ordinary  market  transactions,  and  one  reserved  for 
weighing  gold,  silver,  and  such  more  valuable  articles 
as  fine  silks  and  pearls.  A  similar  condition  of  things 
occurs  in  the  home  lands,  where  are  still  used  avoirdupois 
or  troy  as  the  article  to  be  weighed  is  of  ordinary  trade 
or  is  bullion. 

The  so-called  money,  issued  by  the  various  states  prior 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  221  B.C.,  was,  as  above 
explained,  really  a  token  issue  exchangeable  against  a  cer- 


WEIGHTS,    MEASURES,    AND    CUKRENCY  297 

tain  amount  of  grain.  T'sin  Shi  Hwangti  desired  his  to  be 
absolute  coin  of  standard  weight.  The  weight  adopted 
needs  some  explanation.  The  ordinary  weights  in  use,  as 
mentioned  in  the  Confucian  classics,  were  the  hwan  and 
the  liiU  —  the  first,  as  indicated  by  the  ancient  character, 
being  a  bowl,  the  second,  as  shown  by  the  sign  used,  a 
hand  grasping  the  character  for  corn,  signifying  a  hand- 
ful. The  coins  were  in  fact  tokens  or  delivery  orders 
representing  a  liit^  or  later  five  against  twelve  lilt.  Shi 
Hwangti's  reform  consisted  in  changing  the  token  for  an 
absolute  piece  of  money,  and  the  weight  adopted  was  half 
a  tael,  practically  2.90  grains.  Now  originally  the  tael 
was  the  weight  of  a  bronze  arrowhead,  as  the  higher 
denomination,  the  Hw,  was  the  axe-head.  Kin  still,  in 
modern  Chinese,  retains  its  meaning  of  axe,  and  is  repre- 
sented in  the  seal  character  by  a  sign  indicating  an  axe 
swung  by  the  handle ;  the  sign  used  for  liang  equally 
represents  a  pair  of  arrows  in  a  basket  quiver.  The  word 
arpaKTo'i,  in  fact,  in  its  meaning  of  spindle  or  arrow,  the 
Sanscrit  terku-8,  is  connected  phonetically  with  the  Chi- 
nese liang;  both  originally  having  been  formed  of  bronze, 
as  was  also  the  coin.  Now  in  prehistoric  times,  before 
decimal  counting  had  been  introduced,  the  Chinese,  like 
other  nations,  formed  their  subdivisions  by  dividing 
continually  by  two,  and  hence  the  axe  and  the  arrow- 
head came  to  bear  the  proportion  of  16  to  1  actually 
borne  by  the  Mn  to  the  tael ;  but  with  the  general  intro- 
duction of  the  decimal  system,  which  certainly  took  place 
before  the  foundation  of  the  Empire,  both  could  not  co- 
exist, and  while  the  tael  continued  the  standard  for 
money,  the  kin  was  made  the  substitute  for  the  older 
hwan  in  ordinary  marketable  transactions.  There  ensued 
a  period  of  confusion  after  the  death  of  the  first  Emperor, 
but  with  the  accession  of  the  Hans  the  older  system  of 


298  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

weights  died  out ;  and  from  that  period  the  kin  and  the 
liang  continue  the  chief  weights,  but  with  the  distinction 
that  the  one  is  used  for  ordinary  articles,  the  other  for 
bullion  and  valuables. 

As  in  Rome,  the  as  did  not  long  retain  as  a  coin  its  an- 
cient value,  but  was  continually  reduced  in  weight  accord- 
ing to  the  immediate  exigencies  of  the  state,  we  find  a 
similar  and  progressive  deterioration  also  taking  place  in 
China ;  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  Han  dynasty  the 
coin,  now  for  the  first  time  called  a  fsien,  or  tenth  (by 
foreign  residents  a  cash')  became  reduced  in  weight  and 
value. 

So  in  measures  of  length  I  find  a  duplicate  system  pre- 
vailing, as  the  object  to  be  measured  consisted  of  goods, 
as  cloth,  etc.,  to  be  measured  for  sale  in  the  market,  or  of 
land,  to  be  assessed  in  taxes  to  a  feudal  superior,  or  an- 
nually divided  as  folkland  for  the  purpose  of  cultivation, 
or  measured  in  stages  for  the  imperial  post  service.  Curi- 
ously, there  is  the  same  distinction  existing  in  England 
to  the  present  day,  where  the  two  have  entirely  different 
standards.  The  measure  made  use  of  in  trade  is  founded 
in  China  on  the  ehik,  or  rule,  as  in  England  on  the  yard, 
which  is  simply  the  ordinary  length  of  a  yerde^  or  walking 
stick.  Other  measures,  as  the  foot  and  the  ell  or  cubit, 
have  from  time  to  time  prevailed,  but  the  rod  seems,  even- 
tually to  have  been  found  the  most  satisfactory.  The 
Chinese  word  "  chik  "  seems  to  have  no  reference  to  the 
foot,  and  is  probably  only  a  variation  from  chak^  a  rule  or 
standard;  perhaps  associated  with  a  form  meaning  to 
double,  and  so  connected  with  Latin  cubitum,  the  double 
arm,  the  elbow.  The  land-measure  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
founded  on  the  ordinary  stride  or  double  space.  It  is 
counted  in  China  as  5^  English  feet,  and  hence  comes  into 
a  curious  connection  with  the  English  perch  of  5|  yards,  or 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CLTRREXCy  299 

exactly  3  times  the  length,  which  forms  similarly  the  basis 
of  English  land-measurement.  The  similarities,  which 
certainly  point  to  some  early  association,  do  not  end  here. 
In  both  systems  the  standard  multiplier  is  40.  Thus,  in 
English  land-measure  the  foundation  of  large  areas  is 
taken  as  the  furlong  (furrow-long),  which  consists  of  40 
perches,  or  120  Chinese  pu;  this  length,  with  a  width  of 
4  perches,  forms  the  English  standard  acre,  and,  with  a 
width  of  2  Chinese  pu^  forms  the  standard  Chinese  ttiow^ 
corresponding  with  the  acre  as  the  standard  of  area  for 
all  imperial  purposes.  The  Chinese  mow  is  thus  the  exact 
equivalent  of  one-sixth  of  the  acre.  The  furrow-long,  as 
has  been  seen,  is  in  length  40  perches  (220  yards).  In 
China  the  same  length,  120  pu,  multiplied  by  3,  forms  the 
li,  the  Chinese  unit  of  road-measures,  which  thus  becomes 
the  three-eighths  of  the  English  mile.  The  combination  of 
these  two  factors,  the  pu  of  5|-  feet,  and  the  multiplier,  40, 
will  bring  out  many  similar  approaches  between  the  two. 
With  the  want  of  precision  which  at  all  times  charac- 
terized Chinese  measures,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  in 
any  part  of  the  Empire  these  weights  and  measures  are  to 
be  held  exact.  Thus  the  li,  as  a  measure  of  travel,  differs 
considerably  in  different  parts  of  the  Empire,  and  often  de- 
generates into  a  rough  measure  of  the  time  occupied  in 
traversing  some  particular  portion  of  a  road,  and  not  in- 
frequently the  traveller  finds  the  distance  between  two 
towns  differently  counted  as  the  road  ascends  or  descends. 
Land-measure  is  apt,  too,  to  be  stretched  in  poor  land  to 
make  up  in  a  rough  way  for  its  inferior  productiveness, 
and  so  go  toward  equalizing  the  taxation  always  assessed 
by  the  mow.  The  clothmaker's,  the  mason's,  and  the  car- 
penter's chik  will  also  be  found  to  differ  in  any  locality, 
and  hence  much  confusion  arises  even  amongst  the  natives 
of  a  single  district.     Still,  on  the  whole,  throughout  the 


300  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Empire  these  various  discrepancies  oscillate  about  a  mean, 
fairly  represented  by  the  measures  given  above.  Neces- 
sity has,  however,  in  one  or  two  instances  compelled  ex- 
actitude. Thus,  the  monetary  tael,  however  the  local  tael 
may  vary,  is  always  of  the  standard  weight  of  579.85 
grains  troy.  Curiously,  this  uniformity  does  not  produce 
a  standard  currency.  It  is  in  many  places  an  old  custom, 
for  instance,  that  an  ad  misericordiam  allowance  should  be 
made  in  the  payment  of  taxes.  Thus  in  Shanghai,  in 
paying  government  taxes,  98  taels  are  accepted  as  the 
equivalent  of  100  ;  so  the  proportion  of  alloy  varies,  the 
fineness  being  reckoned  in  different  localities  from  916  to 
1000,  and  these  distinctions  have  ever  been  a  source  of  in- 
convenience to  the  natives  themselves,  and  are  upheld 
partly  through  the  national  dislike  to  change,  but  mainly 
through  the  influence  of  powerful  associations  who  find 
profit  in  their  continuance. 

The  commercial  currency  of  modern  China  is  silver, 
with  the  tael  as  the  unit  of  weight.  Chinese  history  is 
silent  as  to  when  or  how  this  change  from  the  old  style 
came  about.  As  above  mentioned,  silver  as  an  article  of 
exchange  does  not  occur  in  the  Confucian  classics,  and 
one  first  catches  glimpses  of  it,  as  such,  under  the  Han 
dynasty.  In  all  probability,  therefore,  the  introduction 
of  silver  in  mercantile  transactions  was  contemporaneous 
with  the  opening  up  to  Chinese  commerce  of  central  and 
western  Asia  which  followed  the  travels  of  Chang  K'ien 
in  the  second  century  before  Christ,  and  which  brought 
China  for  the  first  time  into  touch  with  the  silver-using 
countries  of  the  west.  At  all  events,  from  this  period 
onwards,  yen,  silver,  becomes  the  ordinary  word  in  use  to 
express  money,  and  the  tael  is  for  the  future  the  accepted 
unit  of  weight. 

The  tael  so  adopted  seems  to  have  remained  fairly  con- 


WEIGHTS,   MEASUEES,   AND   CUEEENCY  301 

stant,  and  there  was  little  change  from  the  old  standard, 
apparently  about  1^  ounces  avoirdupois,  say  583.3  grains, 
except  a  slight  drop  to  579.85,  which  has  continued  the 
monetary  standard  ever  since,  as  against  the  mercantile 
standard  of  1-|  ounces  which  still  forms  the  basis  of  the 
mercantile  system  of  the  catty,  1^  pounds  avoirdupois,  and 
its  multiple,  the  picul  of  100  catties,  or  133  pounds.  The 
tael  of  account,  as  explained,  differs  locally  according  to 
allowances  and  fineness,  but  these  are  eventually  all  reduci- 
ble to  the  standard,  and  are  constant.  Thus  the  Shanghai 
tael,  the  best  known  as  coming  into  foreign  commerce 
most  frequently,  is  found  to  weigh  568.25  grains  of  a  fine- 
ness of  yV^,  and  so  actually  contains  520.52  grains  of  pure 
silver.  The  official  tael,  in  which  duties  have  to  be  paid, 
and  known  as  the  Kuping  or  Haikwan  tael,  is  actually 
money  of  account,  containing,  whatever  may  be  its  fineness, 
579.85  grains  of  pure  silver. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  Spain  annexed 
the  Philippines,  and  this  had  a  temporarily  disturbing  influ- 
ence on  finance.  The  Chinese  have  themselves  in  all  ages 
felt  the  inconvenience  of  their  primitive  system  of  currency 
and  would  have  eagerly  welcomed  such  a  change  as  would 
have  resulted  in  a  settled  system  of  coinage.  The  example 
of  what  had  been  done  by  one  government  after  another 
with  respect  to  the  bronze  coinage,  and  its  persistent 
decline  both  in  weight  and  purity,  was  not  reassuring ; 
and,  anxious  to  have  some  system  of  payment  on  which 
they  could  depend,  and  which  would  not  be  subject  to 
sudden  and  arbitrary  fluctuations,  they  declined  to  accept 
any  of  the  schemes  offered,  and  preferred  the  older  system 
of  bullion  payments,  which  were  guaranteed  by  the  chop  of 
some  association  under  their  own  control,  and  in  which  they 
could  have  confidence.  Hence  arose  a  system  of  banking 
which  in  China,  before  all  other  countries,  at  an  early  period 


302  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

became  closely  associated  with  the  business  instincts  of  the 
Empire.  In  return  for  the  undoubted  advantages  offered 
by  the  banking  guilds,  there  was  the  undoubted  disadvan- 
tage that  the  banks  in  time  became  dissociated  from  the 
merchants,  and  to  suit  their  own  ends  kept  up  those  local 
distinctions  which  have  ever  been  an  incubus  on  the  in- 
ternational trade  of  the  Empire.  The  Chinese  had  to 
weigh  disadvantages,  but  on  the  whole  they  have  felt  that 
the  interests  of  trade  were  better  subserved  by  having 
a  trustworthy  and  responsible  intermediary  in  the  banks 
than  by  placing  themselves  in  the  hands  of  an  irre- 
sponsible government  against  which  there  could  be  no 
redress. 

When  Spain  annexed  the  Philippines,  an  opening  seemed 
to  present  itself  for  the  introduction  of  a  settled  system. 
Spain  had  acquired  during  the  preceding  century  the 
countries  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  both  rich  in  the  precious 
metals,  and  a  considerable  flow  of  silver  set  in  toward 
the  home  country.  The  possession  of  the  Philippines  di- 
verted this  across  the  Pacific  to  Manila,  which  from  its  con- 
venient position  with  regard  to  China  and  Japan  soon 
became  an  important  centre  of  trade,  and  Spain  was 
proportionably  enriched.  With  a  continuous  stream  of 
silver  constantly  arriving,  the  mints  of  Spain  were  kept 
busy,  and  Spanish  dollars  became  the  common  coin  of 
the  world,  and  many  of  them  found  their  way  to  China. 
Here  their  purity  and  uniformity  made  them  general 
favourites,  and  for  a  time  they  became  almost  the  current 
coin  of  the  land.  It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to 
quote  a  pamphlet  issued  in  Shanghai  by  an  anonymous 
writer  in  1856 :  "  When  this  port  was  opened  to  foreign 
trade  in  1843,  it  was  found  that  here  as  at  Ningpo,  and  at 
the  great  commercial  centres  of  Soochow  and  Hangchow, 
a  short  way  in  the  interior,  the  Carolus  dollar  had  long 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CURRENCY  303 

been  in  general  use.  Much  of  the  smaller  business  of 
buying  and  selling  in  shopkeeping  was  transacted  in  it,  al- 
though the  great  staple  articles  of  the  native  trade  here,  such 
as  pulse,  raw  cotton,  cotton  cloth,  etc.,  were  still  bought 
and  sold,  not  by  dollars  as  the  gauge  of  price,  but  by  taels 
of  silver.  The  progress  of  the  dollar  in  banking  business 
had  been  more  rapid  and  decided,  —  the  notes  in  common 
circulation  for  the  most  part  specifying  dollars.  Thus 
both  dollars  and  ingots  of  silver  were  in  current  use  here, 
and  most  of  our  first  sales  were  for  payment  in  sycee 
(uncoined)  silver  at  the  premium  of  the  day." 

Consequent  on  the  decay  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  the 
supply  of  silver  fell  off.  Still,  however,  toward  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  large  quantities  of  dollars  bear- 
ing the  efi&gies  of  the  two  monarchs,  Charles  III.  and 
Charles  IV.,  found  their  way  to  the  Far  East,  and  from 
their  uniformity  of  weight  and  fineness  entered  largely 
into  the  trade  of  China.  From  the  device,  borne  on  the 
reverse,  of  the  fabled  Pillars  of  Hercules,  they  came  to  be 
familiarly  known  as  "  pillar  dollars,"  and  they  formed  an 
important  element  in  adjusting  the  balances  of  trade  then 
largely  in  favour  of  China.  With  the  revolt  of  her  South 
American  colonies  Spain  ceased  to  take  any  appreciable 
part  in  the  commerce  of  the  world,  and,  the  supply  of  silver 
for  mintage  rapidly  falling  off,  the  stock  ceased  to  be  re- 
newed, and  no  more  pillar  dollars  came  to  China  to  make 
up  for  the  ordinary  wear  and  tear  of  the  coin.  To  quote 
again  the  pamphlet  referred  to  :  "  For  a  number  of  years 
little  inconvenience  was  felt,  although  as  compared  with 
the  copper  coin  of  the  country  the  Carolus  dollar  gradually 
rose  in  nine  years  from  being  worth  1150  to  about  1500 
copper  cash. 

"  The  increasing  quantity  of  them  gradually  drawn  off 
into  the  adjacent  silk  districts,  as  well  as  the  tea  districts 


304  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND  COMMERCE 

of  Anhwei,  not  to  mention  the  quantities  occasionally 
exported  to  Canton,  etc.,  fully  accounted  for  this  rise. 
During  the  same  period  the  value  in  sterling  of  the  dollar, 
or  the  rate  of  exchange  on  England,  had  varied  between 
the  limits  of  4«.  and  5«.  6c?. 

"  Such  had  been  the  state  of  things  prior  to  1853,  when 
rebellion,  with  all  its  train  of  horrors  and  disasters,  burst 
upon  central  and  northern  China,  deluging  the  land  with 
blood  and  spreading  ruin  and  desolation  far  and  wide. 
Then,  since  on  the  one  hand  the  Carolus  dollars  were 
eagerly  sought  for  by  the  terrified  people,  as  the  most 
convenient  form  by  which  a  certain  well-known  value 
could  be  represented  and  secreted  for  future  use,  and  as  a 
consequence  of  the  unnaturally  stimulated  demand  rose  to 
a  price  far  above  their  intrinsic  worth,  —  and  on  the  other 
hand  the  sale  of  every  kind  of  import  except  opium  was 
almost  at  a  stand,  the  inevitable  result  was  an  unprece- 
dentedly  high  rate  of  exchange  on  England.  Since  the 
troubles  began  in  1853,  this  rate  has  fluctuated  between 
5s.  Id.  and  7s.  9d.,  the  present  rate  being  6s.  4d.  One 
may  thus  estimate  the  Carolus  (pillar)  dollar,  judging  by 
the  rate  of  exchange  on  England,  to  have  averaged  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  per  cent  higher  than  its  previous  average 
value." 

The  effect  of  these  disastrous  conditions  on  the  trade 
of  China,  already  suffering  from  the  severe  fluctuations  of 
exchange,  was  marked,  and  commerce  languished.  An 
ineffectual  effort  was  made  to  supply  the  deficit  in  the 
favourite  medium  of  currency  by  the  introduction  of  the 
new  Mexican  dollar,  bearing  as  its  device,  on  one  side, 
the  "cap  of  liberty,"  and  on  the  other  an  eagle  stran- 
gling a  serpent,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  force  the 
new  coin  into  circulation  as  the  equivalent  of  the  old 
familiar  "pillars."     The  attempt,  after  a  firm  refusal  on 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CURRENCY  305 

the  part  of  the  banking  guilds  supported  by  the  weight 
of  public  opinion,  to  accept  the  new  coin,  except  at  its 
intrinsic  value,  was  wisely  abandoned.  Up  to  this  time 
(1856)  accounts  by  the  foreign  mercantile  houses  and  the 
foreign  banks  had  been  kept  in  Carolus  dollars.  Foresee- 
ing the  danger  to  commercial  interests  lying  in  the  fur- 
ther use  of  a  rapidly  disappearing  coin  as  a  standard  of 
account,  the  market  rate  for  the  Carolus  dollar  being  now 
equivalent  to  the  Shanghai  tael,  the  banks  and  foreign 
merchants  acting  in  concert  determined  to  change  the 
unit.  Accordingly,  on  a  prearranged  day,  every  bank 
and  every  merchant  doing  business  in  Shanghai  changed 
the  headings  of  all  accounts  from  dollars  to  taels,  the 
figures  remaining  the  same.  No  difficulty  was  experienced 
in  the  alteration,  and  the  local  tael  has  continued  satis- 
factorily the  standard  of  buying  and  selling  ever  since. 
The  actual  intrinsic  value  of  the  two  was  in  the  propor- 
tion of  72.43  to  100,  the  Carolus  dollar  having  thus 
attained  to  a  premium  of  upward  of  twenty-seven  per 
cent. 

The  convenience  of  having  a  coin  of  fixed  value  in  pur- 
chasing and  selling  by  retail  caused  the  general  introduc- 
tion of  the  new  Mexican  dollar  for  ordinary  local  use,  and 
the  two  —  dollar  and  tael  —  have  since  found  their  place 
in  the  local  market  concurrently;  in  exchange  quota- 
tions the  dollar  is  quoted  daily  in  terms  of  the  tael,  the 
clean,  unmarked  coins  (chopped  is  the  local  word  in  use) 
being  generally  at  a  slight  premium  aver  their  bullion 
value,  and  the  two  coins,  old  Spanish  and  new  Mexican, 
are  practically  identical  in  intrinsic  value. 

Causes  similar  to  those  that  brought  about  the  first 
appreciation  of  the  Carolus  dollar,  namely,  the  cessation 
in  China  of  imports  owing  to  the  devastation  of  the  Tai- 
ping  rebellion,  and,  in  addition,  the  enormously  increased 


306  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

demand  in  Europe  for  silk,  brought  about  by  a  strange 
epidemic  disease  to  which  the  silkworm  suddenly  became 
liable,  and  which  at  one  period  was  so  serious  as  to  threaten 
the  entire  destruction  of  the  crop,  increased  the  silver 
requirements  of  China  to  an 'unprecedented  extent.  The 
price  of  the  Shanghai  tael  of  silver  at  the  rate  of  58.  per 
ounce  amounts  to  about  58.  Id. ;  it  actually  rose  to  7s., 
and  for  a  series  of  years  continued  over  6s.  4df.  It  so 
happened  that  at  the  same  period  France  showed  a  dispo- 
sition to  introduce  a  gold  coinage,  her  chief  medium  of 
currency  having  up  to  this  time  mainly  consisted  of  silver 
five-franc  pieces.  The  new  coin  was  of  the  value  of  twenty 
francs,  and  was  known  as  the  napoleon.  The  French 
people  took  kindly  to  it,  and  the  government  took  advan- 
tage of  the  demand  in  China  to  get  rid  of  enormous 
quantities  of  these  old  coins,  which  were  converted  into 
bullion  and  shipped  to  the  East,  to  the  mutual  satisfaction 
of  both  countries. 

The  demonetization  of  silver  in  Germany  after  the  war 
of  1870  threw  still  greater  quantities  of  that  metal  into 
the  market,  while  the  opening  of  the  new  mines  and  the 
cheapening  of  the  cost  of  production  had  a  marked  effect 
all  over  the  world  ;  and  from  this  period  a  steady  decline 
in  the  price  of  silver  as  compared  to  gold  set  in,  which 
continued  practically  unchecked  for  thirty  years,  and  has, 
as  a  result,  brought  about  an  entire  reconstruction  of  the 
China  trade.  After  the  events  in  north  China  in  1900, 
the  European  Powers  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  China, 
which  by  means  of  a  nominal  loan  bearing  interest,  and  a 
sinking  fund,  were  spread  over  a  long  series  of  years. 
China,  to  enable  her  to  meet  the  strain,  was  to  be  per- 
mitted to  raise  her  duties  on  foreign  imports ;  but,  incon- 
sistently, while  the  interest  and  sinking  fund  were  to  be 
annually  paid  in  gold,  the  duties  from  which  funds  for 


WEIGHTS,   MEASURES,   AND   CURRENCY  307 

payment  were  to  come  were  stipulated  to  be  payable  only 
in  silver.  The  result,  which  seemingly  neither  side  had 
sufficient  knowledge  of  finance  to  foresee,  was  a  panic  in 
the  silver  market  and  a  drop  in  the  Shanghai  exchange 
market  to  2s.  2c?.  per  tael,  the  lowest  point  ever  touched. 
Since  then  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  rise  to  more 
medium  rates. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  silver  has  at  all  periods  in  the  Far 
East  had  a  tendency  to  be  overvalued  with  reference  to 
gold.  By  general  consent  prior  to  the  eighteenth  century 
silver  was  looked  upon  both  in  Europe  and  Asia  as  the 
more  "  stable  "  metal,  and  so  became  practically  the  uni- 
versal currency.  This  disposition  was  even  more  marked 
in  the  Far  East.  There  are  few  means  of  ascertaining 
their  comparative  values  in  ancient  times ;  probably  they 
differed  much  at  various  times  and  in  different  localities, 
and  the  task  of  seeking  to  reduce  them  to  anything  like 
uniformity  would  be  hopeless. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  in  Europe  the  relative  cost  of 
gold  as  compared  with  silver  seems  to  have  remained  fairly 
even  at  from  10-12  to  1.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  in 
consequence  of  the  discovery  of  America  and  the  opening 
of  the  rich  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  the  value  of  the 
precious  metals  in  Europe  underwent  great  changes,  and 
the  purchasing  power  of  both  gold  and  silver  greatly  fell. 

Their  relative  values  also  changed,  and  the  ratio  in- 
creased to  14  to  1,  and  before  the  close  of  the  century  to 
15  to  1.  In  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  pretty  constant 
at  the  latter  rate.  By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  ratio  had  risen  to  about  15|^  to  1  ;  since  when  it 
has  fluctuated,  rising  about  the  beginning  of  1902  to 
nearly  44  to  1,  and  is  now,  1904,  about  35|-  to  1. 

In  Asia,  and  especially  eastern  Asia,  the  proportion  has 
never  risen  so  hisfh.     In  1627  we  find  their  asrent  at  Ban- 


308  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

tarn  thus  reporting  to  the  newly  established  East  India 
Company,  who  wished  to  extend  their  trade  to  China,  and 
had  entered  into  a  tentative  arrangement  with  the  Dutch  : 
"  In  China  is  no  coin  current,  neither  gold  nor  silver. 
The  common  people  usually  go  to  market  with  small  pieces 
of  silver  sold  by  weight,  which  they  proportion  according 
to  their  measures.  The  rial  of  eight  (Spanish  dollar)  is 
there  worth  seven  copongoes,  thirty-six  or  forty  whereof 
will  buy  a  rial  weight  of  the  purest  gold."  This  would 
make  the  ratio  5|-5|  to  1.  This  again  agrees  with  what 
was  discovered  to  be  the  actual  ratio  on  the  reopening  of 
Japan,  when  the  value  of  the  gold  and  silver  coins  in 
current  use  was  found  to  be  under  6  to  1. 

I  do  not  propose  to  go  into  the  recent  history  of  the 
currency  in  Japan  further  than  to  point  out  that  after 
the  Empire  had  become  actually  denuded  of  gold,  the  gov- 
ernment was  finally  compelled  at  considerable  expense  to 
adopt  a  gold  standard.  In  like  manner  the  recent  star- 
tling variations  in  silver  quotations  in  China  are  slowly  but 
steadily  driving  that  Empire  to  adopt  the  gold  standard. 

China,  it  is  interesting  to  observe,  has  at  all  times  been 
a  gold-exporting  country.  It  has  long  been  known  that 
large  deposits  of  gold  occur  in  the  range  of  mountains 
stretching  from  north  of  Peking  along  the  northern  boun- 
dary of  Korea  as  far  as  the  Sea  of  Japan.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  country  has  ever  discouraged  the  mining  of 
gold,  and  what  has  been  raised  has  been  done  surrepti- 
tiously. Notwithstanding  this  fact,  large  quantities  of 
the  metal  find  their  way  annually  to  the  treaty  ports, 
where  they  form  an  important  item  in  the  lists  of  exports. 


CHAPTER  Xm 

LAND  TRANSIT 

Vast  and  far-reaching  as  are  the  waterways  of  China, 
they  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  internal 
commerce  of  the  Empire.  This  deficiency  had  been  met 
in  the  far  distant  past  by  the  cutting  of  great  highroads 
which  linked  such  portions  of  the  dominions  and  colo- 
nies of  China  as  were  unapproachable  by  water.  By 
searching  the  pages  of  history  prior  to  the  destruction  of 
Carthage  by  Rome,  we  find  that  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing his  caravan  roads  open  to  the  southwest  of  Asia,  the 
Emperor  Wu  Ti  found  it  necessary  to  break  the  power  of 
the  Turkish  Empire  in  the  regions  of  the  Kara  Nirus.  The 
great  diplomat  and  general,  Chang  K'ien,  was  despatched 
to  the  limits  of  Asia  and  the  eastern  borders  of  Europe  as 
ambassador,  accompanied  by  an  imposing  staff,  to  open  up 
trade  relations  with  the  west  by  caravan  over  the  "  excel- 
lent "  roads  then  in  existence.  But  he  was  captured  and 
imprisoned  by  the  Turks.  So  enraged  were  the  Emperor 
and  his  people  at  the  violation  of  the  sanctity  of  the  am- 
bassador that  the  wars  commenced  which  ultimately  broke 
the  power  of  the  Turks  in  the  Kara  Nirus  country  and 
made  them  seek  outlets  farther  west. 

The  Chinese  gained  a  commercial  influence  in  the 
Tahai  country  (three  hundred  miles  north  of  India),  to 
which  a  broad  road  was  built,  and  established  trad- 
ing missions  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the 
Yuehti,  and  with  the  northern  tribes  of  Tjbet.    Such  mis- 

309 


310  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

sions  could  have  no  other  result  than  the  spread  of  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  Chinese  merchants  and  their  wares, 
and  the  bringing  of  them  into  contact  with  those  other 
past-masters  of  trade,  the  Parthians,  who  had  perfect  roads 
constructed  across  their  country,  some  fully  four  hundred 
miles  long,  reaching  from  Samarkand  to  Sarangia,  and 
thence  to  the  sea-coast  near  the  Tiouchi  country.  Thus, 
with  the  excellent  horses  of  the  Urh  Shi,  which,  according 
to  Parthian  accounts,  were  the  finest  in  Asia,  they  kept 
up  carriage  communication  between  east  and  west  Asia. 
This  being  the  case,  one  might  well  ask,  "Where  are 
the  roads  of  yesterday  ?  "  as  there  does  not  exist  to-day 
in  China  a  highway  of  any  length  which,  to  the  western 
mind,  could  be  termed  a  road. 

About  a  century  before  Christ  there  were  four  great 
roads  leading  from  Peking  through  Szechuan  via  Mang, 
Yen,  Tu,  and  Kungpak.  The  southern  road  was  continu- 
ally set  upon  by  the  Kwenming  (a  tribe  of  robbers),  until 
the  Emperor  Wu  Ti  through  various  generals  with  large 
armies  defeated  these  lawless  bands  and  established  the 
sacred  principle  among  them  that  trade  and  diplomatic 
missions  must  be  free  from  molestation.  The  civilization 
of  the  Wu  Ti  era  was  evidently  more  advanced  than  that  of 
Kwang  Hsu,  under  whom  it  was  permitted  that  the  lega- 
tions in  Peking  be  attacked  and  a  minister  murdered  in 
1900.  To  show  the  Oriental  idea  of  trade  mission,  I  will 
quote  the  following  from  a  paper  by  T.  W.  Kingsmill: 
"  When  the  first  Chinese  envoy  arrived  in  Parthia,  the 
King  (Mithridates  II.?)  despatched  a  general  with  20,000 
horses  to  meet  him  on  the  western  frontier.  On  the  way 
they  passed  some  ten  cities.  The  inhabitants  were  all 
of  the  same  race  and  very  numerous.  On  the  return  of 
the  mission  he  sent  envoys  with  it  that  they  might  see 
the  extent  and  power  of  China.     He  sent  with  them  as 


LAND   TRANSIT  311 

presents  to  the  Emperor  eggs  of  the  great  bird  (bus- 
tard ?)  of  the  country,  and  a  curiously  deformed  man 
from  Samarkand." 

The  trade  roads  were  great  arteries  of  China  trade  to 
the  northwest,  west,  and  southwest ;  but  that  to  the  west 
was  the  easiest,  best,  most  remunerative,  and  most  used, 
as  caravans  passed  and  repassed  regularly  to  the  countries 
beyond,  and  one  may  gather  that  the  trade  was  carried 
for  the  most  part  in  carts,  since  with  respect  to  one 
primitive  expedition  we  read  that  the  Emperor  sent  men 
skilled  with  carriages  (carts  ?).  "In  little  more  than  a 
year  there  marched  out  of  Tunkwang  a  force  of  60,000 
men,  not  including  army  followers,  accompanied  by 
100,000  cattle  and  upwards  of  30,000  horses,  besides 
10,000  mules,  asses,  and  camels,  all  well  supplied  with 
fodder.  .  .  .  Men  used  to  the  management  of  vehicles 
were  sent  to  join  it  at  Tunkwang,  and  two  cavalry  officers 
well  skilled  in  the  management  of  horses  were  attached 
as  instructors  in  horsemanship,  to  take  back  the  Shen 
horses  after  the  capture  of  Yuan."  We  find  that  the 
roads  over  which  these  armies  marched  were  good  and 
levelled. 

I  make  use  of  these  incidents  to  show  the  importance 
of  roads  in  the  minds  of  the  Chinese  for  commercial  and 
military  purposes,  even  in  remote  ages  over  two  thousand 
years  ago. 

It  is  really  only  since  the  alien  has  sat  on  the  throne  of 
China  that  all  means  of  communication  by  water  and  land 
have  been  permitted,  like  all  other  institutions,  to  become 
corrupt  and  dilapidated.  As  the  rule  of  the  Turk  in 
Egypt  destroyed  all  the  useful  monuments  of  its  com- 
mercial people,  so  the  Manchus  have  obliterated  all  indi- 
cations of  commercial  advancement  in  the  territories  they 
conquered.     Nowhere  is  this  more  apparent  than  in  the 


312  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND  COMMERCE 

gradual  disappearance  of  roads,  which  until  the  last  couple 
of  centuries  were  rivals  of  the  ancient  Roman  structures 
to  be  found  at  this  day  in  England. 

So  great,  indeed,  did  the  expert  caravan  trade  of  China 
become  by  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  before  Christ 
that  "  westward  as  far  as  the  Lob  Nor  (Salt  Water  Lake) 
resthouses  were  established.  At  Luntow  a  hundred  agri- 
cultural officers  were  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  encour- 
aging the  cultivation  of  millet  and  corn  to  supply  the 
caravans  on  their  way  to  or  from  foreign  countries." 
(From  the  history  of  Sze-Ma  Tsien  translated  by  Kings- 
mill.) 

In  the  south  the  ancient  trade  roads  from  the  Yangtse 
through  Yunnan  into  Assam  and  Laos  across  high  moun- 
tains were,  according  to  ancient  records,  comparable  with 
anything  of  the  kind  in  the  Empire  in  its  most  glorious 
days  of  overland  commerce.  But  these  have  been  allowed 
to  fall  into  such  decay  that  they  may  be  said  to  have 
disappeared  completely,  leaving  only  foot-paths  and  goat 
tracks.  Such  a  state  of  things  could  have  but  the  one 
result,  namely,  the  death  of  Yunnan  as  a  trading  province, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  this  province  may  be  considered 
the  father  of  the  mineral  resources  of  China.  There  is 
no  possibility  at  present  of  working  the  marvellously  rich 
gold-bearing  crystalline  granites  to  the  south  of  the  prov- 
ince, near  the  Burma  frontier,  owing  to  the  fact  that  all 
machinery  must  be  carried  by  pack  animals  or  by  porterage 
over  these  mountain  tracks.  In  the  north  and  west  of 
China,  where  water  transit  is  not  as  convenient  as  in  the 
south,  middle,  and  eastern  sections,  we  find  portions  of 
roads  that  would  compare  with  those  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  but  they  are  found  only  in  short  stretches.  These 
portions  are  where  the  roads  have  been  hewn  out  of  the 
solid  rock  of  the  mountains  over  which  they  pass.     The 


LAND  TRANSIT  313 

celebrated  traveller,  De  Guignes,  remarked  in  the  ac- 
counts of  his  journeys,  "I  have  travelled  near  six  hun- 
dred leagues  by  land  in  China  and  have  found  many  good 
roads,  most  of  them  vsdde  and  planted  with  trees."  This 
description  could  well  apply  to  many  of  the  roads  in 
Shansi  and  Shensi,  as  well  as  in  the  hill  regions  of  Shan- 
tung, where  the  military  roads  were  originally  well 
planned  and  have  been  kept  in  many  places  in  reasonable 
repair. 

Owing  to  the  consistent  lines  on  which  the  sections  of 
roads  cut  in  the  mountain  rock  run,  it  is  quite  apparent 
to  any  observing  traveller  that  they  form  a  regular  trunk 
system  of  highroads  for  either  military  or  commercial 
purposes,  and  were  at  no  distant  date  well  maintained 
in  the  provinces  north  of  the  Yangtse  valley,  particu- 
larly in  Kansu,  Mongolia,  Manchuria,  and  that  district 
of  Chili  north  of  the  Great  Wall  known  as  Jehol  (Hot 
Rivers). 

Baron  von  Richthofen,  "  China,"  says  of  the  roads  of 
Shansi :  "  The  great  roads  from  Peking  to  the  southwest 
and  west  pass  through  all  the  chief  towns  of  this  province, 
and  when  new  probably  equalled  in  engineering  and  con- 
struction anything  of  the  kind  ever  built  by  the  Romans. 
The  stones  with  which  they  are  paved  average  fifteen 
inches  in  thickness.  Few  regions  can  exceed  in  natural 
difficulties  some  of  the  passes  over  the  loess-covered  tracts 
of  this  province,  where  the  road  must  wind  through  miles 
of  narrow  cuts  in  the  light  and  tenacious  soil." 

The  construction  and  maintenance  of  roads  in  China  is 
considered  an  immortal  virtue  by  the  people.  Who,  in 
travelling  through,  or  approaching  a  town,  has  not  seen 
a  tablet  or  monumental  stone,  at  the  side  of  the  road, 
describing  the  many  immortal  virtues  of  him  by  whose 
means  that  road  has  been  constructed  ?     Such  a  one  on 


314  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

his  death  becomes  the  recipient  of  posthumous  honours  if 
accounts  of  his  good  deeds  reach  the  imperial  ear. 

So  important  is  the  question  of  roads  in  China  that  the 
central  and  provincial  government  budgets  contemplate 
the  raising  of  funds  annually  to  be  expended  on  the  con- 
struction, improvement,  and  maintenance  of  military  and 
trade  routes,  as  well  as  the  deepening,  widening,  and 
general  care  of  creeks  in  those  provinces  where  the  latter 
take  the  place  of  roads.  It  is  owing  to  the  corruption  and 
indifference  of  the  officials,  who,  coming  from  other 
provinces,  have  no  local  interest  in  the  conditions  and 
facilities  for  traffic,  that  these  are  only  too  apparently 
neglected,  and  the  money  which  should  be  spent  thereon 
finds  its  way  into  the  official  private  purse. 

Where  a  particular  official  has  a  desire  to  be  somewhat 
less  dishonest  than  his  brethren,  his  ignorance  regarding 
general  matters  of  administration  prevents  the  greatest 
use  being  made  of  the  funds  set  apart  for  the  improve- 
ment of  communications  within  his  district.  His  want  of 
knowledge  enables  the  one  actually  conducting  and  super- 
vising the  work  to  make  enormous  squeezes  without  any 
check  whatsoever  from  higher  sources. 

Although  roads  of  the  western  standard  may  be  said 
not  to  exist  in  China,  it  is  the  greatest  possible  mistake 
for  those  unfamiliar  with  the  country  to  think  that  they 
cannot  travel  by  road.  They  can  in  certain  sections  of 
the  country  travel  for  many  miles  on  excellent  roads, 
which,  however,  are  abruptly  intersected  at  times  by 
gaping  chasms  caused  by  the  rain  washing  little  rivu- 
lets in  the  route.  These  not  being  attended  to  or 
repaired  soon  become  broad  gullies  or  stream  beds,  ren- 
dering traffic  impossible.  On  the  other  side,  again,  the 
roadway  may  be  excellent,  only  to  become  impassable 
once  more  farther  on.     The  Peking,  Yungping,  Shanhai- 


LAND   TRANSIT  315 

kwan,  and  Kinchow  highway,  excellent  in  portions,  fur- 
nishes an  instance. 

There  is  a  fine  caravan  road  from  Peking  to  Yarkand 
in  Chinese  Turkestan,  and  thence  to  Kashgaria  and 
Bokhara.  This  road  can  be  traversed  throughout  its 
extent  by  carts,  though  it  lies  across  stiff  mountains,  and 
the  journey  is  a  long  one,  occupying  four  months.  There 
is  one  most  difficult  pass,  which  the  Chinese  regard  as  a 
strategic  position  against  western  (Russian)  aggression 
and  hold  with  a  large  garrison  who  are  supposed  to 
keep  the  country  round  about  quiet  and  the  caravans  free 
from  molestation  by  robbers.  These  soldiers,  however, 
are  as  obnoxious  to  trade  as  are  the  robbers. 

Another  road  branches  south  from  Yarkand  through 
Ladak  or  Little  Tibet  and  on  to  Kashmir.  The  route, 
though  hilly,  is  good  and  can  be  made  in  less  than  a 
month,  though  goods  caravans  take  three  times  that  period 
in  pursuit  of  orders  and  barter  of  goods.  There  is  a 
perfect  road  through  dense  wood,  full  of  all  kinds  of 
large  and  small  game,  between  Yarkand  and  Oksu, 
which  can  be  covered  in  less  than  twenty  days.  All 
these  roads  from  Yarkand  are  kept  in  order  by  the 
natives  of  the  countries  through  which  they  pass  and  are 
not  the  concern  of  the  Chinese  government.  Hence  the 
difference  between  them  and  those  in  China  proper.  On 
these  roads  the  Chinese  carry  on  to  this  day  an  extensive 
trade. 

A  personal  observation  of  their  methods  of  dealing 
with  creeks  for  navigation  may  indicate  to  the  casual 
traveller  the  lines  on  which  all  structural  and  remedial 
works  are  and  have  been  approached  during  the  days  of 
the  present  dynasty,  and  may  give  an  impression  of  the 
reasons  for  the  condition  into  which  the  roadways  have 
been  permitted  to  lapse. 


316  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  Chinese  are  more  or  less  students  of  nature  in  its 
varying  forms,  and  they  learn  much  from  it  in  the  ab- 
stract; but  the  seeming  lack  of  reasoning  power  dis- 
qualifies them  from  taking  full  advantage  of  such  lessons 
as  nature  gives.  For  instance,  they  observe  that  the 
banks  of  a  river  prevent  the  water  flowing  over  the  land. 
Reason  does  not  impress  them  with  the  fact  that  the  river 
current  has  cut  down  into  the  earth  to  make  a  bed  for  the 
stream,  and  that  the  natural  bank  so  made  is  always 
stronger  than  an  artificial  bank.  Therefore  they  say  to 
themselves,  as  banks  keep  in  water  and  we  require 
creeks  to  water  our  crops  as  well  as  navigate  our  "  rice 
boats,"  we  must  build  banks,  and  so  make  canals.  This 
is  a  very  excellent  idea,  but  what  is  the  fact  ?  After  a  small 
and  narrow  cutting  has  been  made  for  a  creek  bed  and  the 
material  therefrom  piled  on  either  side  for  the  foundations 
of  the  banks,  the  face  of  the  surrounding  agricultural  fields 
is  scraped  down  a  couple  of  feet  to  build  up  what  are 
called  "flood  banks."  In  a  country  like  China,  where 
most  of  the  creeks  are  cut  in  the  delta  formations  of  the 
great  rivers  or  detrital  plains,  these  creek  beds  get  silted 
up  with  a  dense  deposit  of  mud,  and,  with  continual 
scrapings  of  the  fields  to  repair  the  banks,  these  same  fields 
get  far  below  the  level  of  the  creek's  bed.  This  means 
destruction  to  the  rice  and  grain  lands  should  the  creek's 
banks  burst  in  time  of  exceptional  flood,  as  was  the  case 
in  the  time  of  the  deplorable  Yangtse  floods  in  the  year 
1900.  In  the  same  way  the  Chinese  reverse  the  order  of 
the  West  in  the  construction  of  their  roads,  which  instead 
of  being  built  up  above  the  surrounding  level  are  cut 
below  it,  so  that  in  the  rainy  season  these  roadways  rot 
and  become  rivulets,  if  not  regular  mud  creeks. 

It  is  astonishing  that  in  a  country  where  there  is  so 
much  honour  and  reverence  for   the  ancients  and  their 


LAND   TRANSIT  317 

teachings,  those  teachings  should  not  be  taken  to  heart  by 
the  present  generation  of  Chinese,  and  therefore  such 
ancient  monuments  as  the  Great  Wall,  the  Bamboo  Pali- 
sade, the  ancient  trade  roads,  and  the  canals  be  allowed  to 
fall  into  bad  repair,  if  not  out  of  use  entirely.  This, 
however,  is  the  case,  and  it  is  an  illustration  of  the 
contradictory  nature  of  the  Chinese. 

So  little  respect  have  they  for  such  ancient  monuments 
that  in  the  country  or  province  of  Confucius  the  poor 
agriculturist  whose  plot  lies  along  the  roadway  thinks  it 
very  good  business  (^pidgin)  to  steal  as  much  as  possible 
of  the  highways  (even  those  made  under  the  Emperor 
Hwangti,  2637  B.C.)  by  digging  a  couple  of  feet  into  his 
land  each  year,  and  this  going  on  for  a  few  years  ends  in 
converting  a  thirty-foot  military  road  into  a  coolie  carrier's 
footway  on  which  it  is  almost  impossible  for  two  bearers 
to  pass  each  other.  This  state  of  things  has  actually 
taken  place  at  Weihaiwei  since  the  British  occupied  the 
harbour  and  the  surrounding  country  for  a  radius  of  ten 
miles.  There  was  as  little  protest  from  the  enlightened 
British  governing  officials  as  there  is  usually  from  the 
same  class  of  Chinese,  so  that  now  the  British  taxpayer 
has  to  pay  for  the  making  of  fresh  roads. 

What  has  occurred  in  the  matter  of  stealing  may  easily 
be  seen  in  many  districts  where  the  cultivated  lands  are 
adjacent  to  rocky  hills.  Only  the  narrowest  roads  or 
footways  separate  the  former  and  lead  to  the  hill  high- 
ways of  excellent  quality,  which,  under  good  engineering 
plans,  have  been  hewn  in  the  solid  rock,  gradually  winding 
their  way  up  the  hillside  until  the  wide  pass  is  met  and 
then  down  a  slow,  winding  descent  on  the  other  side. 
Wherever  rock  has  been  cut  away,  the  amount  removed 
has  been  utilized  for  filling  up  any  crevices,  fissures,  or 
gaps  met  with  in  the  ascent  or  descent. 


318  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Nearly  all  these  mountain  roads  are  of  a  width  to  per- 
mit the  passage  of  at  least  two  Chinese  long  carts,  and 
sometimes  on  the  bigger  trade  routes  as  many  as  four,  of  the 
same  class  of  cart,  can  move  abreast  even  in  the  high 
mountain  passes.  In  nearly  all  the  mountain  passes  along 
the  trade  roads  of  north  China  there  may  be  seen  what 
appear  to  be  shrines  to  some  god  or  other,  and  there  are 
many  travellers  and  writers  who  have  called  these  shrines, 
but  they  are  only  partially  correct.  These  large  struc- 
tures with  stone  seats  along  the  walls  were  not  origi- 
nally miniature  temples  ;  though  they  may  now  maintain 
mendicant  monks  of  the  Buddhist  or  Taoist  faith,  they 
were  built  as  mountain  guard-houses  to  protect  the  travel- 
ling caravan  and  the  belated  merchant  caught  in  the  pass 
by  the  approach  of  night.  Careless  of  everything,  even 
the  protection  and  development  of  trade,  the  Manchu 
rulers  of  China  have  for  purposes  of  economy  withdrawn 
the  trade-road  guards  from  these  hill  stations.  The  night- 
beset  traveller,  however,  can  still  find  these  desolate 
buildings  a  resthouse,  without  comfort  but  with  the 
doubtful  companionship  of  a  Buddhist  or  Taoist  priest, 
who  is  more  often  than  not  in  league  with  the  bandits 
and  highway  robbers  of  the  neighbourhood.  It  were  better 
for  the  traveller  did  he  pass  by  this  uninviting  abode ;  but 
if  he  remains,  he  should  only  eat  and  drink  that  which  is 
cooked  by  himself  or  by  his  own  servant,  and  never  accept 
the  smoke  offered  him  by  monk  or  nun  lest  worst  befall 
him.  Many  of  these  past  guard-houses  are  still  to  be 
seen,  though  greatly  dilapidated,  in  the  provinces  of 
Fukien,  Chekiang,  Kiangsi,  Hunan,  Hupeh,  Kansu,  Shensi, 
Shansi,  Shantung,  the  regions  about  the  Great  Wall  and 
to  the  north  thereof ;  and  in  Manchuria  these  passes, 
curiously  enough,  have  a  better  reputation  and  are  less 
ruined  than  in  other  parts  of  China. 


LAND   TRANSIT  319 

Williams,  in  his  "  Middle  Kingdom,"  writes,  "  The 
public  roads,  in  a  country  so  well  provided  with  navi- 
gable streams,  are  of  a  minor  consequence,  but  these 
media  of  travel  are  not  neglected."  It  would  have  been 
better  if  this  high  authority  had  said  that  "  these  media 
of  travel  are  not  wanting,"  as  they  are  very  much  neg- 
lected indeed,  and  but  for  culpable  and  even  criminal 
neglect  on  the  part  of  Manchu  officialdom,  the  ancient 
roads  for  China's  inland  and  overland  trade  would  still  be 
among  the  finest  in  the  world. 

The  roads  that  are  not  cut  into  the  rock  over  mountains 
and  through  mountain  passes  are  generally  paved  with 
long  slabs  of  granite  or  other  hard  stone,  like  the  Ningpo 
agglomerate,  which  stretch  right  across  the  width,  or 
half  the  width,  of  the  fairway.  The  slabs  generally 
measure  seven  to  twelve  feet  long,  by  eighteen  inches 
wide  and  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  thick.  Where  the 
roads  are  not  slabbed  on  the  surface  in  this  manner, 
they  are  bunded  with  such  slabs,  and  the  intervening 
space  is  well  set  with  cobblestones  or  old  brick  fitted 
on  edge  and  making  different  patterns.  Few  people  in 
the  world  can  compete  with  the  Chinese  in  cobbling  in 
this  manner,  as  to  both  finish  and  rapidity  of  work; 
but  in  spite  of  the  rapidity  it  must  have  taken  a  very 
long  time  and  much  money  to  complete  many  of  the  exist- 
ing roads  of  this  type.  Instances  of  this  class  of  road 
are  not  wanting  in  any  part  of  the  country.  Much  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  mile  road  built  between  Nanking 
and  Fungyang  by  the  founder  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  Hung- 
wu,  was  of  this  class.  This  fine  piece  of  road  engineering 
was  in  many  places  fully  twelve  feet  above  the  surrounding 
country,  and,  with  funds,  can  be  repaired  into  one  of  the 
best  means  of  transit  in  the  country,  as  it  is  over  twenty- 
five  feet  wide  in  general,  but  in  places  as  much  as  forty 
feet  wide. 


320  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

Another  great  paved  road  was  the  Hangchow-Chengtu, 
but,  as  in  all  the  others,  the  paving  only  remains  in 
patches. 

In  the  north  of  China,  after  official  neglect,  frost,  wind, 
floods,  and  the  sharp,  heavy  wheels  of  the  carts  are  the 
worst  enemies  of  the  highroads ;  but  the  transit  merchant 
cannot  be  expected  to  improve  his  cart  or  cart  wheel  until 
the  roads  are  better,  and  these  present  wheels  only  make 
tolerable  roads  soon  intolerable,  by  cutting  deep  ruts, 
which  help  the  frost  and  wind  to  pulverize  the  ground, 
and  then  the  floods  wash  away  these  light  portions. 

As  the  region  of  any  large  waterway  is  approached  the 
roads  become  impassable,  owing  to  the  effect  of  floods  and 
official  neglect.  In  the  delta,  or  detrital  plains  formed  by 
many  rivers  emptying  themselves  into  the  Gulf  of  Pechili, 
the  routes  run  over  this  light  soil,  which  at  times  is  bat- 
tened down  into  hard  mud  tracks,  sometimes  hundreds  of 
yards  wide,  particularly  in  the  salt  plains  of  Chili ;  owing 
to  the  aforementioned  reasons  they  become  very  rutty 
and  most  uncomfortable  to  travel  over  at  any  time,  and  in 
particular  the  road  from  Tsinanf u  in  Shangtung  to  Peking 
via  Tehsien  and  Hohsien,  becomes,  during  wet  weather, 
when  the  air  is  moist  and  very  hot,  a  veritable  morass,  in 
which  the  cart  animals  sink  and  are  sometimes  drowned. 

Owing  to  the  light  nature  of  the  soil  and  the  enormous 
traffic  on  the  roads  there  is  a  layer  of  dust  in  dry  weather 
nearly  a  foot  thick,  and  this,  when  disturbed  by  pushing 
hoofs,  makes  travelling  of  any  kind  anything  but  a  pleas- 
ure, and  this  discomfort  becomes  magnified  if  one  travels 
in  carts. 

I  have  mentioned  the  disintegrating  effect  upon  the 
roads  of  frost,  wind,  cart  wheels,  and  floods,  and  the  con- 
tinuity of  these  injurious  agencies  gradually  works  the 
roads  down  until  they  become  flood  conduits,  and  ulti- 


LAND   TRANSIT  321 

mately  nothing  but  gully  beds,  containing  ten  to  twelve 
feet  of  water  during  the  summer  months,  and  then  road 
traffic  has  to  be  entirely  suspended.  In  the  northern 
provinces  such  is  the  effect  of  summer  floods  that  no 
attempt  is  made  to  transport  merchandise  for  over  two 
months,  and  in  the  frost-zone  areas  traffic  is  again  sus- 
pended when  the  ice  and  snow  begin  to  melt. 

In  the  regions  round  Newchwang  the  subsoil  of  the  roads 
has  no  binding  qualities  and  is  so  light  that  for  six  weeks 
on  end  the  roads  were  and  are  deep  marshes,  so  much  so 
that  it  is  a  common  sight  to  see  a  cart,  with  the  six  or 
eight  animals  which  pull  it,  gradually  sink  and  the  animals 
drown  in  the  general  highway.  The  Russians,  since  their 
occupation  of  Manchuria,  including  Newchwang,  have 
done  much  to  improve  the  roadways,  which  had  lapsed 
into  an  impossible  condition  for  trading.  Throughout  the 
main  road  of  the  foreign  settlements  and  at  the  back  of 
the  British  Concession  they  have  improved  the  cartways 
as  well  as  the  footways.  In  the  centre  of  the  thorough- 
fare they  have  laid  down  large  slabs  of  granite  across  the 
road,  and  though  this  makes  excellent  but  noisy  carriage- 
ways, it  was  their  intention,  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  war,  to  have  left  these  slabs  as  a  firm 
foundation  on  which  to  build  up  a  macadamized  highway 
similar  to  the  highways  they  have  constructed  in  other 
parts  of  Manchuria  for  military  purposes. 

It  is  not  an  infrequent  thing  to  see  carters,  when  the 
regular  road  is  too  bad,  starting  to  make  a  new  road  for 
themselves  over  the  adjoining  fields  which  are  not  blessed 
with  hedges  or  ditches.  When  passing  along,  one  may 
often  see  a  deep,  wide  rut  cut,  and  the  excavated  clay 
piled  up  on  one  side  by  a  farmer  in  preparation  for  the 
sowing  of  his  crops.  This  is  done  to  signify  that  traffic 
must  cease  over  this  portion  of  the  field,  but  such  hints 


322  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

generally  go  unheeded,  and  the  carter  goes  whither  he 
will,  a  custom  more  noticeable  amongst  the  Mongolians 
north  of  the  Great  Wall,  as  they  do  not  engage  in  tillage 
themselves,  and  have  little  real  respect  for  those  that  do. 

Improvements  in  roads  throughout  west  and  southwest 
Chili  are  now  more  generally  engaged  in  since  the  un- 
toward events  of  1900,  after  which  there  was  the  hasty 
imperial  flight  to  Hsianfu.  This  was  accomplished  over 
the  dilapidated  tracks  relegated  to  the  trader,  carrier, 
and  coolie  porter  under  ordinary  circumstances.  The 
return  journey,  however,  was  not  so  arduous  for  the 
royal  travellers,  as  each  official  through  whose  district  the 
journey  had  to  be  made,  had  to  see  that  the  road  was  put 
in  perfect  condition  and  that  suitable  imperial  resthouses 
were  erected  at  the  different  stages  wherever  these  rest- 
houses  had  been  allowed  to  fall  into  decay ;  but  where 
they  still  existed,  large  sums  were  spent  on  the  necessary 
repairs. 

In  connection  with  the  return  to  Peking  it  is  interesting 
to  quote  from  the  Code  the  regulations  regarding  tres- 
pass upon  the  imperial  highways  or  roads. 

"  No  person  shall  presume  to  travel  on  the  roads  or  cross 
the  bridges  which  are  expressly  provided  and  reserved 
for  the  use  of  the  Emperor  except  only  such  civil  and 
military  officers  and  other  attendants  as  immediately 
belong  to  his  Majesty's  retinue,  who  are  in  consequence 
necessarily  permitted  to  proceed  on  the  side  paths  thereof. 
All  other  persons,  whether  civil  or  military  officers,  sol- 
diers, or  people,  who  presume  to  travel  on  the  roads  or  to 
cross  the  bridges  aforesaid,  shall  be,  punished  with  eighty 
blows." 

This  ancient  decree  would  have  closed  the  ancient 
highway  between  Hsian  and  Peking  by  reason  of  its 
being  specially  repaired  for  exclusive  imperial  use  during 


LAND   TEANSIT  323 

the  royal  return,  but  the  Empress  Dowager's  clemency 
prevented  any  harshness  being  shown  to  those  accustomed 
to  make  use  of  it. 

Another  imperial  highway  is  that  from  Peking  to  the 
western  Mausoleum  and  Ancient  Ming  Tombs,  where 
the  Emperor  travels  at  the  time  of  the  "  Festival  of  the 
Tombs,"  and  this  highway  is  always  kept  in  good  con- 
dition. 

The  roads  of  Chili,  both  within  and  outside  the  Great 
Wall,  running  north,  northwest,  and  west,  and  southwest, 
are  reasonably  good  for  a  country  not  boasting  of  roads. 
That  to  Yungping  and  Shanhaikwan  and  thence  via 
Kinchow  and  Hsinmintun  to  Mukden  and  Kirin  is  a  fine 
trade  route,  except  during  the  summer  floods,  on  the  stretch 
which  crosses  the  valley  of  the  Liao  Ho.  The  branch 
of  the  same  road  going  north  to  Tsitsihar  is  broader  and 
better,  but  cannot  boast  the  same  patronage  from  traders 
and  carters,  though  they  number  many  thousands  at  the 
end  oL  the  year  for  each  route  ;  road  traffic  cannot  be 
carried  on  for  more  than  nine  months  of  the  year  in 
Manchuria  and  eastern  Mongolia. 

A  branch  of  this  road  strikes  off  from  Yungping  and 
meets  the  Peking-Hsifengkow  road  at  the  latter  place, 
which  is  the  gate  in  the  Great  Wall  near  the  waters  of 
the  practically  unnavigable  Lau  Ho  (Blue  River).  This 
road  passes  from  here  on  to  Pah  Kow  or  Ping  Chuen 
Chow  and  thence  throws  out  branches  to  east,  north,  and 
west,  the  latter  of  these  going  to  Chengtefu,  the  capital 
of  the  Jehol,  and  thence  on  to  Fengninghsien  and  the 
Dolonor,  Ta  Lama  Miao,  or  Great  Lama  Temples,  in  the 
Geshirten  district  of  Mongolia,  dividing  here  again  into 
four  flourishing  Mongolian  transit  routes,  where  continu- 
ous lines  of  camels  may  be  met  crawling  along  at  little 
over  three  miles  an  hour  and  sometimes  at  not  so  rapid  a 


324  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

pace.  There  four  roads  lead,  (1)  to  Urga,  Kiaktah,  and 
the  Baikal ;  (2)  to  Borza  and  Nerchinsk  ;  (3)  to  the  Dalai 
Nor  and  Argun  head  waters;  (4)  to  Khailar  and  the  Argun 
head  waters.  A  branch  of  the  Urga  road,  which  is  a 
great  tea  and  camel's-wool  route,  passes  the  Ulan  Nor  and 
thence  through  western  Gobi  to  the  south  of  the  Khangai 
range. 

The  middle  road  from  Pah  Kow  or  Ping  Chuen  strikes 
north  to  Chefenghsien,  where  it  in  turn  divides,  — a  branch 
going  west  along  the  Shilikaho  until  it  reaches  Liang- 
pootien,  then  south  of  the  Imperial  Hunting  Park,  Wei 
Chang,  to  the  Dolonor,  while  another  branch  follows  to 
the  waters  of  the  Liao  Ho  northeastward  for  eighteen 
miles,  and  then  strikes  in  the  same  direction  across 
undulating  plains  as  far  as  Hsin  Chang,  where  it  crosses 
the  Sungari  on  its  way  to  Harbin;  and  this  for  many- 
centuries  has  been  one  of  the  most  famous  military  and 
commercial  roads  of  the  Empire.  It  is  open  practically 
the  whole  year,  as  it  crosses  most  of  the  waterways  ex- 
cept where  it  follows  the  head  waters  of  the  Liao  for  the 
above-mentioned  eighteen  miles.  There  are  numerous 
rich  trading  towns  along  the  road  and  an  immense  popu- 
lation engaged  in  grain-raising,  distilling,  bean  culture 
and  bean-oil  and  cake  manufacture,  camel's-wool  manu- 
factures, horse  and  cattle  raising,  and  many  other  remu- 
nerative industries. 

The  third  Ping  Chuen  road  passes  east  by  northeast 
to  Ching  Chienhsien,  Chao  Yanghsien,  Hwangninghsien, 
and  then  joins  the  Shanhaikwan-Hsinmintun  road  at  the 
latter  place.  This  is  an  important  trade  road  for  carrying 
the  mineral  products  of  Pechili  through  Ping  Chuen  Chow 
to  the  capital,  and,  as  a  result  of  the  valuable  traffic  con- 
ducted over  it,  the  hills  in  the  vicinity,  at  times  of  dis- 
turbance like  that  of  1900,  become  infested  with  bandits. 


LAND   TRANSIT  325 

The  native  tribes  of  northeast  Mongolia  are  generally 
nomadic  horse,  sheep,  and  cattle  raisers,  or  hunters  and 
carters.  They  are  the  best  carters  and  caravan  runners 
in  China,  being  hardy  and  knowing  no  fear.  This  being 
their  favourite  pursuit,  they  leave  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  to  the  numerous  industrious  Chinese  settlers. 

Another  road  from  Peking  passes  Tsunhua,  Miyuen, 
through  the  Kupehkow  in  the  Great  Wall,  and  passing 
Luanpinghsien  reaches  Chengtefu  and  sends  out  two 
branches,  one  direct  north  to  Liangpootien  and  the  other 
by  the  Yesuiho  (continually  flowing  river)  to  Tungtapao, 
the  military  station  to  the  east  of  the  Wei  Chang.  This 
road  and  its  branches  are  the  imperial  highways  to  the 
imperial  palace  of  Jehol  at  Chengtefu  and  to  the  imperial 
hunting  preserves  known  as  the  Wei  Chang.  The  journey 
to  Chengtefu  is  supposed  to  take  five  days,  but  even 
when  carts  go  also,  it  can  be  done  in  three  days  by 
forced  marching.  It  is  very  hilly,  but  the  highway  is 
not  in  the  usual  ruined  condition,  though  of  course  it  is 
not  all  that  could  be  expected  from  a  royal  route.  How- 
ever, it  suits  admirably  the  style  and  methods  of  Chinese 
travel.  Should  the  very  important  towns  of  Jehol  or 
Chili  north  of  the  wall  be  opened  to  foreign  trade,  these 
roads  will  have  an  enhanced  interest.  In  connection  with 
all  the  roads  north  of  the  Great  Wall  one  is  tempted  to  use 
a  striking  phrase  of  Alexander  Hosie  :  "  Carts  are  the 
railway  carriages,  trucks,  and  vans  of  Manchuria."  No 
expression  could  better  illustrate  the  conditions  of  transit 
in  Manchuria  and  Mongolia. 

Since  the  time  of  the  occupation  of  Chili  by  the  allied 
forces  in  1900  many  exploring  parties,  both  military  and 
civil,  have  journeyed  in  the  regions  to  the  north  of  the 
Great  Wall.  Their  labours  have  resulted  in  giving  to  the 
world  clearer  ideas  of  these  regions,  in  respect  both  to 


326  '       CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

history  and  geography,  and  to  commercial  conditions.  lu 
no  way  have  they  done  better  work  than  in  giving  us 
some  ideas  of  the  trade  roads  and  of  the  advancing 
commerce  along  these  highways.  The  most  interesting 
reports  regarding  the  Mongolian  routes  have  been  given 
by  Messrs.  C.  W.  Campbell,  C.M.G.,  and  G.  J.  Kidston, 
of  H.B.M.'s  Consular  Service.  The  latter,  writing  of  the 
section  of  the  road  immediately  north  of  the  Great  Wall, 
in  the  direction  of  Fengning,  describes  it  as  "  wonderfully 
good,"  as  does  Major  H.  Goold- Adams,  C.M.G.  The 
passes  are  low  but  very  steep.  This  route  abounds  in 
undeveloped  mineral  beds,  the  coal  being  particularly 
good.  To  the  north  of  Fengning  there  are  large  areas  of 
rock  crystal,  some  pieces  of  which  weigh  over  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy  pounds.  Native  gold  is  frequently  dis- 
covered associated  with  the  crystal.  The  coal  extracted 
by  the  natives  of  the  district  is  that  which  outcrops  in 
the  hills  in  irregular  or  futed  seams,  is  bastard  or  hydra- 
cious,  and  in  consequence  poor  in  quality.  The  roads 
from  Fengning  to  Dolonor  pass  through  beautiful  cafions 
and  narrow,  wooded  valleys  (the  wood  being  mostly  birch, 
fir,  and  oak),  then  through  defiles  leading  to  stiff  moun- 
tain passes,  all  easy  of  passage  except  the  last.  There 
is  a  gradual  climb  of  close  upon  four  thousand  feet  in 
altitude  to  the  undulating  grass  plateau  on  which  the  Ta 
Lama  Miao  or  Dolonor  is  situated.  The  priests  of  the 
district  have  as  an  industry  the  breeding  of  the  so-called 
Peking  pug  dogs  and  Chinese  sleeve  dogs,  a  good  specimen 
of  either  fetching  as  much  as  $1000  (Mexican)  or  .£100. 
They  also  breed  the  large,  black,  curly-haired  Mongolian 
dog,  the  skin  of  which  obtains  a  high  price  on  the  London 
market.  The  Dolonor  itself  is  about  four  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level,  and  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this  squalid 
home  of  the  filthy  Lhama  (Lama)  is  nothing  but  the  hleketi 


LAND   TKANSIT  327 

of  sand  on  which  rest  numerous  camel  caravans.  The  ani- 
mals of  one  pack  frequently  number  as  many  as  thirty. 
The  first  and  the  last  animal  carry  deep-toned  bells,  so 
that  if  the  linking  rope  severs,  the  driver  is  at  once  made 
aware  of  the  accident  by  the  absence  of  the  bell  in  the  rear. 
Besides  the  camel  traffic  a  large  amount  of  carrying  is 
done  on  large  ox-wagons  or  carts,  some  two  and  some  four 
wheeled.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  see  at  the 
Dolonor,  as  at  Chefenghsien,  large  merchant  inns,  that  is, 
merchant  stores  with  an  inn  attached.  These  are  kept 
by  keen  Chinese  for  the  benefit  of  the  large  traders  who 
come  in  from  great  distances  to  see  to  the  disposal  of  their 
wares  in  these  market  centres.  In  the  yards  of  these  inns 
sometimes  three  or  four  hundred  carts  are  standing,  while 
all  around  at  the  feeding  troughs  are  the  mules,  ponies,  and 
other  draught  animals.  At  the  first  streak  of  dawn,  if 
not  before,  one  is  awakened  from  his  slumbers  by  the 
shouts  of  muleteers  or  drivers  as  they  cry  to  one  an- 
other while  getting  ready  for  the  day's  journey.  They 
seem  to  come  in  at  all  hours  of  the  night,  and  after  an 
hour  or  two  of  rest  and  feeding  the  animals,  they  take  to 
the  road  again. 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  the  Dolonor  is  a 
great  horse-breeding  centre,  but  it  is  only  a  great  fair,  at 
which  the  horses  are  collected  from  districts  fully  one  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  great  num- 
bers of  sheep  and  cattle  gathered  there.  Most  of  the 
Chinese  of  this  district  are  Mohammedan.  They  are 
about  the  most  businesslike  and  energetic  Chinese  to  be 
met  with.  The  lower  order  of*Mohammedan  Chinese  are 
unmitigated  rascals,  and  though  serving  their  employer 
well,  rob  the  country  folk  on  all  sides.  In  spite  of  this 
they  are  the  best  guides  and  body-guards  the  foreigner 
can  secure  for  travelling  in  Manchuria  and   Mongolia. 


328  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Mr.  Campbell  reached  the  Dolonor  by  the  Peking  and  Kal- 
gan  road.  Kalgan,  situated  on  the  Great  Wall  to  the  north 
of  the  province  of  Chili  close  to  the  Shansi  border,  carries 
on  a  greater  caravan  trade  than  does  the  Kupehkow  gate, 
owing  to  the  better  road  between  it  and  the  capital  and  to 
the  fact  that  five  great  Mongolian  trade  routes  converge 
on  it.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  town,  and  some 
of  the  other  gates  in  the  Great  Wall  are  not  opened 
as  treaty  ports  permitting  of  foreign  residence.  The  im- 
portance of  foreign  trade  doors  on  the  natural  trade  routes 
of  the  country  cannot  be  overestimated  and  should  not  be 
lost  sight  of  by  the  home  governments  or  the  ministers  in 
Peking.  In  this  connection  Mr.  Campbell  says  :  "  Kalgan 
as  a  residence  for  foreigners  dates  from  the  early  sixties, 
when  firms  interested  in  the  tea  trade  took  advantage  of 
the  special  privileges  conferred  by  the  Russian  treaty  of 
1860  and  established  agencies  in  Yuenpaoshan  to  facilitate 
the  transport  of  their  teas  across  the  Gobi  to  Urga  and 
Kiakhta.  Since  1865  Kalgan  has  been  a  prominent  station 
of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  oc- 
casional residence  of  English  and  Swedish  missionaries, 
whose  labours  are  specially  directed  toward  the  conversion 
of  the  Mongols."  From  Dolonor  Mr.  Campbell  took  a 
circuitous  route,  evidently  not  one  of  the  great  China- 
Siberia  trade  roads,  as  there  seems  to  have  been  little 
traffic  and  less  interest  until  he  reached  Urga,  Here 
there  is  a  Russian  consulate,  the  nucleus  of  a  Russian 
settlement,  and  a  considerable  Russian  trade.  There 
seems  to  be  no  other  western  nation  starting  settlements 
here,  in  spite  of  the  most  favoured  nation  clauses  in  the 
treaties  with  China. 

Mr.  Kidston's  road  lay  to  the  west  of  that  travelled  by 
Mr.  Campbell,  and  was  evidently  the  one  better  adapted  to 
the  advancement  of  foreign  trade  in  these  regions.     This 


LAND   TRANSIT  329 

would  be  very  great,  were  some  of  the  large  trade  centres 
opened  to  the  residence  of  European  merchants  and  com- 
mercial agents,  who  could  enter  upon  business  partnerships 
with  native  traders  to  their  mutual  advantage. 

With  the  spread  of  Chinese  agricultural  migration  in 
the  virgin  districts  of  Mongolia  and  the  Jehol,  and  with 
the  construction  of  a  railway  between  Peking  and  Kalgan, 
these  Mongolian  trade  routes  will  become  better  known, 
and  their  advantages  for  foreign  trade  will  daily  become 
more  apparent. 

The  recent  history  of  Manchuria  has  brought  that  coun- 
try very  much  into  public  notice.  The  march  of  armies 
has  revealed  to  the  sit-at-home  trader  that  in  the  garden 
of  China  there  are  roads,  and  very  excellent  ones,  in  exist- 
ence, which  have,  however,  been  very  greatly  improved 
under  the  military  domination  of  Russia.  These  roads  are 
a  commercial  asset  very  much  valued  by  the  Chinese 
trader  in  his  dealings  with  the  country  northeast  and  east 
of  the  Liao  Ho  during  the  autumn,  winter,  and  spring. 
The  flooded  waterways  serve  his  purposes  during  the 
summer  months.  Thousands  of  carts,  both  large  and 
small,  with  great  teams  of  oxen,  or  seven  or  eight  ponies 
or  mules,  cover  these  roads  during  the  above-mentioned 
seasons.  They  bring  the  heavy  products  of  native  agri- 
culture and  industry  to  the  navigable  waterways,  there  to 
be  stored  until  it  is  possible  for  native  river-craft  to  carry 
their  quota  to  the  nearest  distributing  centre  associated 
with  foreigners,  and  return  Mdth  what  the  foreigner  has  to 
vend.  In  the  hill-country,  where  stone  is  to  be  procured, 
the  roads  would  compare  favourably  with  any  of  foreign 
construction  ;  but  in  the  river  valleys  and  plains  they  are 
execrable  mud  routes,  sometimes  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide. 
The  deep  ruts  cut  by  the  wheels  of  the  style  used  on  the 
carts,  are  a  great  danger  to  travel,  as  a  cart  is  liable  to 


830  CHINA   IN   LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

stick  on  one  side,  and  then  turn  over  with  the  weight  of 
its  contents.  As  Hosie  says,  "  the  nature  of  the  roads  has 
led  to  the  building  of  carts  capable  of  withstanding  the 
bumping  and  jolting  to  which  they  are  constantly  sub- 
jected." But  it  is  the  style  of  cart  used  which  has  brought 
about  a  great  deal  of  injury  to  the  roads. 

The  old  military  road  from  Heichang  to  the  Yalu  at 
Kiulienchang  and  Antung  is  as  fine  a  road  as  is  to  be  met 
with  in  the  country,  and  is  much  used  for  the  lumber  trade. 
Such  heavy  traffic  has  the  effect  of  cutting  up  the  road, 
but  it  has  generally  been  kept  in  good  repair  by  the 
Chinese  officials.  It  is  joined  at  Shataokang  by  another 
excellent  section  from  Liaoyang,  which,  however,  has  to 
cross  very  high  mountain  passes  south  of  the  great  pass 
of  Motienling  (twelve  thousand  feet  high),  which  is  itself 
on  the  broad  road  from  Mukden  to  Fenghwangtien  and 
Antung.  Another  fine  trade  road  —  infested,  however, 
with  hunghutsz  (red-beards),  or  bandits  —  is  that  from 
Mukden  east  through  Tsiaotzetien,  Kien  Changmien, 
Hweijenhsien,  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Yalu  and  the 
Korean  town  of  Chasong.  The  broadest,  best,  and  most 
thickly  populated  route  from  Mukden  to  northeast  Korea 
is  that  through  Fu  Shun,  Sarlin,  Singking,  Hwangtsing- 
men,  Tunghuahsien,  Maochr  Shan,  and  south  of  the  Chan 
Pai  Shan  to  Samsui  and  Kap  San.  All  these  roads  east 
pass  through  one  of  the  richest  mineral  countries  in  the 
world ;  and  this  country  has,  by  reason  of  its  wealth,  excited 
the  greed  of  two  powerful  military  nations,  who,  since 
the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  have  made 
every  attempt  to  seize  it  for  their  own,  finally  plunging 
into  a  devastating  war,  which,  among  other  untoward  re- 
sults, has  crippled  the  foreign  trade  of  China  just  at  a 
time  when  commercial  men  were  looking  for  a  commercial 
millennium  in  the  Far  East. 


LAND  TRANSIT  331 

The  Mukden,  Kirin,  Hunchun  trade  route  is  a  most 
prosperous  and  busy  one  for  carters,  and  acts  now  as  a 
feeder  for  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway.  It  is  daily 
growing  in  importance,  with  large  towns  increasing  in 
size  and  number  through  the  influx  of  Chinese  immigrants 
from  Chili  and  Shantung,  whose  surplus  thousands  find 
here  a  virgin  field  for  their  labours  and  trade.  These 
settlers  are  daily  ousting  the  old  Manchu  owners  of  the 
soil,  and  by  an  extraordinary  trade  evolution  are  conquer- 
ing, by  commerce,  industry,  and  agriculture,  the  land  of 
their  military  conquerors  after  about  three  centuries  of 
subjection. 

All  the  northern  and  northeastern  roads  of  Manchuria 
are  camel  as  well  as  cart  roads.  The  camels,  carrying 
loads  of  one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  pounds,  cover 
a  distance  of  twenty  miles  a  day.  That  from  twenty  to 
thirty  of  these  camels  form  a  caravan,  of  which  fifty 
may  be  met  in  a  day's  march,  gives  some  idea  of  the  trade 
of  Manchuria  and  Mongolia  with  China  along  the  over- 
land routes.  In  the  flat  country  a  stage  for  a  cart  is 
thirty  or  thirty -five  miles  a  day,  and,  with  from  six  to  ten 
ponies  or  mules,  it  carries  a  weight  of  one  and  one-half  to 
two  tons.  The  cost  of  camel  transport  in  these  regions 
comes  out,  roughly,  at  about  7  to  10  cents,  or  1^  to  2d. 
per  ton  mile  ;  but  by  mule  or  pony  cart  it  is  from  4  to  7 
cents,  or  a  little  over  |c?.  to  a  little  under  l^d.  per  ton 
mile.  In  the  stretch  of  country  between  the  Dolonor 
and  Liangpootien  and  Hatah  (Chefenghsien)  and  thence 
to  Mukden  large  quantities  of  buckwheat  and  the  extraor- 
dinary large  single-husk  oat  of  Mongolia  (^Wei  chang  yu 
mi^  or  Wei  Chang  oil  grain)  are  seen.  This  oat  is  particu- 
larly free  from  damping,  and  should  be  introduced  into 
foreign  countries.  Most  of  the  grains,  owing  to  the  diffi- 
culties of  transport,  are  converted  in  the  large  grain  stores 


832  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

into  native  spirit,  as  this  is  the  most  remunerative  way  of 
transporting  the  products  of  the  field.  The  spirit  is  made 
in  pot-stills  of  a  primitive  style,  and,  as  there  is  no  such 
process  as  redistillation,  the  yield  is  a  vile  decoction,  full 
of  fusil  oil,  sold  at  a  few  cents  a  bottle.  Were  any  for- 
eign firm  to  invest  capital  with  a  Chinese  grain  merchant 
in  these  regions,  and  distil  on  scientific  principles,  he 
would  not  only  reap  a  remunerative  reward  from  the 
native  trade,  but  could  put  the  best  whiskey  on  the  Euro- 
pean or  American  market  at  one-third  the  present  price, 
in  spite  of  duties  and  freights,  such  is  the  cheapness  of 
the  best  classes  of  alcoholic  grains  and  labour. 

Another  industry  that  might  be  taken  up  by  foreigners 
associated  with  Chinese  is  that  of  an  abattoir  and  canning 
establishment  in  the  regions  where  cattle  can  be  procured 
at  less  than  f20  (Mexican)  or  <£2  a  head,  where  at  pres- 
ent the  cattle  are  driven  overland  from  the  fattening 
regions,  always  falling  off  in  condition  with  the  length  of 
the  road.  If  a  bone-tallow  factory  and  tannery  were 
associated  with  an  abattoir  at  Hatah  (Chefenghsien),  a 
great  boon  would  be  conferred  on  this  immense  trade 
centre,  and  the  founders  would  be  repaid.  Similar  estab- 
lishments at  Liangpootien  and  Dolonor  would  have  a  like 
result. 

In  the  rolling  plains  to  the  north  of  Hatah  over  one 
million  head  of  cattle  and  thirty  thousand  sheep  are 
reported  by  natives  to  be  raised  annually,  and  these  haA'^e 
to  travel  overland  to  the  consumption  centres,  south 
of  the  Great  Wall,  for  a  market,  though  the  Mongols, 
taken  generally,  are  a  meat-eating  people. 

The  military  roads  of  Shansi  and  Shensi  are  to  this  day 
very  fine,  being  broad,  well  drained  at  the  sides,  and 
planted  with  trees.  They  wind  through  picturesque 
valleys  and  over  mountainous  passes,  and  their  route  is 


LAKD   TEANSIT  333 

lined  with  the  remains  of  ancient  centres  of  industry  and 
trade.  These  are  only  waiting  for  the  lifting  of  the  alien 
pall,  which  has  suppressed  the  energy  of  the  ruled  through- 
out China,  to  resume  their  historic  greatness.  The  Peking- 
Shansi  road  dates  back  two  thousand  years,  and  like  all 
the  roads  of  the  western  provinces,  shows  skill  in  concep- 
tion and  execution.  Portions,  however,  have  degenerated 
into  river  channels  and  cultivated  areas.  The  continua- 
tion of  this  "route  into  Szechuan  offered  considerable  diffi- 
culty, particularly  the  sections  over  the  Paishang  (White 
Pass)  and  the  Hwai  River.  But  the  skill  of  those  early 
engineers  overcame  all  difficulties  in  a  manner  well  set 
forth  in  the  Penny  CyelopoRdia :  "  For  the  difficulties  it 
presents  and  the  art  and  labour  by  which  they  have  been 
overcome  it  does  not  appear  to  be  inferior  to  the  road  over 
the  Simplon." 

Williams  gives  a  fine  description  of  this  work.  "At 
one  place  on  this  route,  called  Linai,  a  passage  has  been 
cut  through  the  rock  and  steps  hewn  in  both  sides  of  the 
mountain  from  its  base  to  the  summit." 

Note.  —  I  have  been  materially  assisted  in  the  preparation  of  this 
chapter  and  the  chapters  on  water  and  railway  transit  by  Mr.  Charles  R. 
Maguire,  a  mining  engineer,  whose  extensive  travels  in  China  have 
qualified  him  to  verify  many  of  the  routes  described.  It  gives  me 
pleasure  to  make  this  acknowledgment. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

WATER  TRANSIT 

Every  facility  that  law  can  give  is  permitted  under 
passport  to  those  desiring  to  travel  on  land  and  water  in 
the  interior  of  China,  and  consequently  it  is  of  more  than 
passing  interest  to  investigate  the  natural  and  artificial 
facilities  afforded  for  travelling  or  trade  between  different 
towns,  districts,  and  provinces. 

If  the  natural  facilities  afforded  by  the  navigable  water- 
ways be  first  considered,  then  it  may  be  said  that  China, 
of  all  countries  in  the  world,  is  most  favoured.  In  this 
direction  Williams's  phrase,  "  The  rivers  of  China  are  her 
glory,  and  no  country  can  compare  with  her  for  natural 
facilities  of  inland  navigation,"  puts  an  accurate  apprecia- 
tion of  the  advantages  of  the  Empire  in  the  briefest  and 
neatest  of  descriptive  word-painting. 

To  the  Chinese  mind  the  history  and  geography  of  the 
country's  rivers  is  of  far  more  importance  than  the  age  of 
the  Empire  or  its  numerous  dynasties. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  home  exporters  and  their  agents 
in  China  know  so  little  about  these  great  rivers  and  water- 
ways which  offer  such  facilities  for  the  advancement  of 
their  special  interests,  and  I  therefore  purpose  giving  a 
short  description  of  them  in  the  order  of  their  importance, 
and  of  the  trade  centres  which  they  feed. 

The  Yangtse  River  is  navigable  for  river  boats  for  fully 
seventeen  hundred  miles  out  of  three  thousand  miles  of 
length.      At  all  seasons  it  is  navigable  for  the  greatest 

334 


WATER   TRANSIT  335 

ocean-going  steamers  for  two  hundred  miles  of  its  length  ; 
that  is  to  say,  from  Nanking,  once  the  southern  capital,  to 
its  mouth  Kiang-kou.  The  river  may  be  considered  uni- 
form and  deep  in  its  lowest  sections,  i.e.  between  Hankow 
and  the  sea,  but  is  liable  to  floods  which  raise  it  from 
thirty  to  fifty  feet  above  normal  or  winter  level. 

In  the  province  of  Kiangsu  few  towns  are  near  the  river, 
as  they  would  be  liable  to  inundation  during  the  summer 
floods.  Of  course  there  are  large  commercial  towns,  such 
as  Chinkiang,  or  Nanking,  of  great  importance  to  foreign 
trade,  on  its  banks,  but  these  are  generally  where  the 
banks  are  more  elevated. 

Regarding  Chinkiang,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the 
Grand  Canal  and  the  Yangtse  River,  Mr.  Justice  Bourne 
wrote  in  1898  :  "  Conditions  are  as  favourable  for  the  ex- 
tension of  foreign  trade  here  as  in  any  place  we  visited  in 
China."  But  with  regard  to  the  area  of  the  concession  he 
says  :  "  The  limit  of  expansion  seems  to  have  been  reached, 
and  it  would  be  much  to  the  advantage  of  both  her  Maj- 
esty's subjects  and  for  the  natives  if  a  settlement  were 
marked  out  that  would  give  room  for  manufactories  and 
the  preparation  of  raw  material  exported."  At  the  same 
time  he  wisely  advocates  that  this  system,  rather  than 
that  of  concessions,  be  adopted  at  the  treaty  ports  for  the 
reasons  stated,  since  otherwise  British  (foreign)  mer- 
chants will  never  settle  up  country,  and  "  without  them 
the  country  can  never  be  opened  up  to  our  trade." 

Wuhu,  in  Nganhui  (Anhwei),has  a  considerable  trade 
in  piece-goods,  but  Kiukiang  has  even  greater  promise  of 
trade  expansion  with  the  interior  of  Kiangsi,  where  shal- 
low-draught steamers  are  employed  on  the  Poyang  Lake 
and  the  waterways,  Kiukiang  and  Kanho,  which  drain  into 
it.  Two  feet  six  inches  of  water  may  be  relied  upon  the 
year  round  as  far  as  Nan  Chan  Fu,  and  never  less  than 


33,6  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

two  feet  as  far  as  Kian  on  the  Kanlio,  but  as  much  as 
twelve  feet  can  be  obtained  during  summer  and  early- 
autumn  to  a  point  (Kan  Chow)  much  farther  south ;  a 
total  distance  of  over  three  hundred  miles  navigable  for 
small  craft.  Conservancy  would  increase  the  navigation 
prospects  and  the  productiveness  of  the  country  bordering 
the  Kan.  But  in  Kiangsi  innumerable  likin  barriers  exist 
to  the  crippling  of  foreign  trade  ;  these,  however,  accord- 
ing to  the  American  and  English  treaties  with  China,  are 
to  be  removed,  when  considerable  expansion  may  be  ex- 
pected. 

Above  Hankow  the  towns  on  the  Yangtse  lie  nearer  the 
river,  the  banks  of  which,  being  generally  higher  than 
those  near  the  mouth,  keep  the  floods  within  limits, 
and  prevent  inundations  affecting  the  towns.  Besides 
this  father  of  waterways  there  are  its  large  and  only 
slightly  less  important  tributaries,  all  more  or  less  open  to 
steam  navigation  by  vessels  of  the  river-steamer  type. 
One  of  the  largest,  and  for  trade  purposes  the  most  useful, 
of  these  is  the  Kankiang,  in  the  province  of  Kiangsi.  By 
its  means  the  Yangtse-carried  goods  pass  south  to  Kan 
Chow,  a  distance  of  over  three  hundred  miles  direct,  by 
vessels  which  vary  in  carrying  capacity  from  four  hundred 
tons  up,  and  which  load  from  the  big  river  steamers  at 
Kiukiang,  a  treaty  port  at  the  junction  of  this  river  with 
the  Yangtse.  The  next  tributaries  of  importance  are  the 
sister  rivers,  the  Siang  and  Yuan,  which  empty  their 
waters  through  the  Tungting  Lake,  and  open  navigation 
facilities  to  small  river  boats,  by  which  may  be  tapped 
the  trade  of  the  rich  and  thickly  populated  province  of 
Hunan  and  the  more  distant  mineral  and  grain  resources 
of  Kweichow  province.  The  products  of  these  two 
provinces  are  reshipped  at  the  treaty  port  of  Hankow,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Han  and  Yangtse  rivers,  a  city  well 


WATEE   TRANSIT  337 

described  by  some  writers  as  "  the  future  Chicago  of  the 
eastern  world. " 

The  great  tributary  from  the  north,  the  Han  River,  is 
the  next  in  importance,  not  only  from  its  navigability,  but 
from  the  richness  and  prosperity  of  much  of  the  district 
through  which  it  flows,  the  province  of  Hupeh,  rich  in  iron, 
copper,  coal,  zinc,  lead,  antimony,  platinum  sands,  black 
tin,  nickel,  cinnabar,  silver,  and,  in  places,  gold.  On  the 
river  Han  there  are  large  and  important  towns  in  which 
considerable  native  manufacture  is  conducted,  and  which 
are  thus  rendered  most  desirable  and  profitable  markets, 
such  towns  as  Laohokou,  140,000  inhabitants;  Fanchen, 
100,000 ;  and  Hsiang  Yang,  40,000.  The  traffic  on  this 
river  is  mostly  by  junks,  or  lighters  towed  by  small 
steamers,  though  shallow-draught  steamers,  capable  of 
carrying  a  good  deal  of  freight  and  many  passengers, 
can  and  do  ply  on  its  waters.  The  current  is  very  strong 
in  summer  during  the  floods,  and  consequently  for  up- 
stream traffic  what  is  required  in  a  steamer  is  power  rather 
than  speed. 

The  next  tributary  of  any  navigable  importance  is  the 
Wukiang,  which  taps  the  more  important  trade  of  Kwei- 
chow  province  from  the  towns  Sze  Nau,  Tsungyi,  Hsih- 
chiu,  and  Tating,  as  well  as,  indirectly,  the  capital 
Kuiyang.  Small  native-owned  steamers  and  towed 
lighters  bring  up  and  down  the  goods  between  these 
towns  and  Chungking,  population  1,000,000,  the  treaty 
port  at  the  junction  of  the  Yangtse  and  the  Kailingkiang, 
which  latter  is  an  important  tributary,  little  less  im- 
portant, commercially  valued,  than  the  Min  River,  which 
joins  the  Yangtse  farther  west  at  Suifu,  where  there  is  an 
average  rise  of  the  waters  during  the  annual  summer 
floods  of  about  forty  feet. 

Very  large  junks  in  the  flood  season  ascend  the  Min 


338  CHINA  nsr  law  and  commerce 

River  as  far  as  Kiating,  at  the  confluence  of  the  tributary 
Tungho,  about  eighty  miles  above  Suif u.  Above  this,  how- 
ever, irrigation  works  have  destroyed  the  navigability  of 
the  river  for  large  boats,  but  have  caused  considerable 
increase  in  transit  facilities  on  innumerable  creeks  and 
canals  for  small-boat  traffic,  particularly  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  provincial  capital,  Chengtu,  where  many 
of  these  canals  connect  the  Chungkiang  with  the  Min. 
Chengtu,  dating  back  to  the  third  century  before  Christ, 
has  a  population  of  600,000,  more  or  less,  but  there  is  no 
reliable  estimate,  although  these  figures  may  be  taken  as 
fairly  accurate.  If  to  this  be  added  the  report  by  Consul 
Litton,  that  "near  Chengtu,  for  forty  miles  in  every 
direction,  the  country  is  one  huge  village,"  which  may 
account  for  his  estimating  the  population  as  1,000,000, 
then  the  usefulness  of  these  canals  for  trade  purposes 
will  be  readily  appreciated. 

Navigation  is  carried  on  at  times  of  flood  as  far  north  as 
Mao  Chow,  in  river  boats  of  six  or  seven  tons'  capacity, 
and  to  near  Sungpan  in  very  shallow  boats  drawing  nine 
inches  loaded.  This  town  is  a  fairly  prosperous  one,  the 
best  merchants  being  Mohammedans.  Enormous  flocks 
of  sheep  are  raised  in  this  vicinity  and  sold  at  about 
$1  to  11.25  (Mexican),  say,  28.  9d.  to  3«.  6d.,  though  when 
bought  in  large  quantities  they  may  be  procured  at  little 
over  2«.  per  head,  and  thereafter  their  uncleaned  wool 
sells  at  ^d.  per  pound  on  the  local  market. 

At  Chungking  the  flood  rise  averages  over  sixty  feet, 
and  it  has  been  known  to  rise  to  ninety  feet,  while  at 
Ichang  it  averages  thirty-five,  with  a  possible  rise  to  fifty- 
three  feet;  at  Hankow  the  average  rise  is  over  thirty 
and  sometimes  exceeds  forty.  Between  Ichang  and 
Chungking  lie  the  Yangtse  Gorges,  where  the  floods  may 
rise  above  one  hundred  feet. 


WATER   TRANSIT  339 

The  Kailingkiang  is  joined  close  to  Ho  Chow,  sixty 
miles  from  Chungking,  by  the  waterways  Foukiang  and 
Kukiang,  on  both  of  which  is  carried  on  a  considerable 
junk  trade,  which  trade  would  be  vastly  increased  by  the 
employment  of  shallow-draught  steamers  or  stern-wheelers. 
Though  there  is  no  definite  industrial  enterprise  at  Ho 
Chow,  its  trans-shipping  trade,  with  a  population  of 
60,000,  is  extensive,  and  where  there  is  such  a  trade,  there 
is  generally  a  large  boat  building  and  repairing  business. 
It  is  a  great  coal  mart,  in  which  mineral  there  is  an  ex- 
tensive trade,  as  the  coal  is  of  good  quality,  though  small 
and  dusty,  owing  to  the  primitive  mining  methods  adopted 
by  the  natives.  The  main  river,  Kailing,  above  Ho  Chow, 
is  broader  than  below,  and  traffic  is  greatly  impeded  by 
numerous  detrital  sand-banks  scattered  over  the  stream. 
These  banks  are  bound  together  by  a  coarse,  rank  weed, 
and  after  a  time  form  islands,  or  part  of  either  river  bank, 
which  can  be  and  are  cultivated  by  the  natives. 

The  ancient  market-town  of  Shun  Ching,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  40,000,  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  silk  district 
on  the  Kailingkiang,  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Ho  Chow  ; 
a  fair  amount  of  boat  traffic  is  carried  on  in  boats  whose 
carrying  capacity  is  about  seven  to  ten  tons,  a  very  few 
carrying  more  than  this.  Another  sixty-five  miles  farther 
north  is  the  salt  city  of  Nanpu,  the  salt  being  transported 
in  boats  to  the  central  market-town  of  Paoning,  twenty 
miles  farther  north.  This  latter  city  with  a  population  of 
over  20,000,  a  great  proportion  of  which  is  Mohammedan, 
is  undoubtedly  prosperous. 

Kuang  Yuen,  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from 
Chungking,  near  the  junction  of  the  Pai  Shui  and  Kailing- 
kiang, may  be  considered  the  limit  of  navigation,  as  the 
boats  or  junks  which  ply  so  far  north  have  at  most  a 
carrying  capacity  of  three  tons,  though  their  actual  start- 


340  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

ing-point  is  from  the  borders  of  Kansu,  at  a  town  called 
Pai  Shui  Chiang  on  the  Pai  Shui  Ho,  about  fifty-five  to 
sixty  miles  away.  On  this  latter  very  shallow  moun- 
tain stream  may  be  seen  a  few  shallow-draught  boats 
and  rafts  propelled  by  poling  or  tracking. 

The  Foukiang  is  navigable  for  junks  of  seven  or  eight 
tons'  capacity,  for  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  as 
far  as  Tung  Chuan,  a  large  market-town  in  the  midst  of  a 
rice,  millet,  maize,  and  silk  raising  area,  and  having  large 
flocks  of  sheep  grazing  on  the  adjacent  hills.  As  the 
natives  know  or  care  nothing  about  sheep-washing,  the 
wool  is  very  dirty  and  consequently  does  not  command 
so  large  a  price  as  its  long  and  fleecy  fibre  would  justify. 
This  town  is  a  market  for  the  raw  silk  brought  down  in 
shallow-draught  boats  from  Lungan. 

Of  all  the  treaty  ports  on  the  Yangtse  and  its  tributa- 
ries Hankow  is  the  most  important,  if  exception  be  made 
for  Shanghai,  which  is  not  on  the  Yangtse  but  on  the 
Hwang-pu,  a  tidal  creek  to-day,  but  formerly  one  of  the 
many  mouths  of  the  Yangtse.  If  Shanghai  is  the  empo- 
rium for  ocean-carried  goods,  Hankow  has  a  similar  posi- 
tion for  all  goods  moving  along  the  great  river  between 
east  and  west,  and  for  the  trade  overland  between  north 
and  south.  Next  comes  Kiukiang,  then  Chinkiang,  after 
which  must  for  the  present  be  placed  Wuhu,  until  such 
time  as  it  regains  the  important  position  it  held  prior  to 
the  Taiping  rebellion.  Then  comes  Ichang,  the  place  of 
trans-shipment  from  steamer  to  junk,  followed  closely  by 
Chungking,  where  the  river  is  three  hundred  yards  wide 
and  has  an  average  of  thirty  feet  in  depth. 

Mr.  Justice  Bourne,  in  his  consular  report,  1898,  says, 
"  Hankow  is  the  greatest  centre  of  distribution  in  the 
Empire  and  must  have  a  great  future  when  China's  re- 
sources begin  to  develop."     The  greatness  of   Hankow 


WATER   TRANSIT  341 

is  only  in  its  infancy.  The  countries  supplied  with 
foreign  goods  from  Hankow  are,  (1)  the  northwest,  in- 
cluding the  provinces  Hupeh,  Shensi,  Kansu,  and  even 
Kashgaria  ;  (2)  the  southwest,  including  Kweichow  and 
Hunan,  and,  to  a  lesser  degree^  Szechuan. 

The  Blackburn  Commission  considered  Hankow,  owing 
to  its  position  and  proximity  to  the  valuable  waterways 
mentioned  above,  the  Siang  and  Yuan  rivers,  to  be  the 
most  suitable  centre  from  which  to  develop  the  Lancashire 
trade  with  the  province  of  Hunan,  which  province  they 
considered  one  of  the  most  promising  fields  in  China, 
owing  to  its  richness  in  useful  minerals,  in  agriculture, 
and  above  all  in  the  hardiness,  enterprise,  and  industry  of 
the  inhabitants.  "  When  the  minerals  are  worked,  this 
may  well  be  the  richest  region  in  China."  This  commis- 
sion strongly  recommended  the  opening  of  Hsiangtan, 
where  boats  drawing  three  feet  can  arrive  at  all  times,  as 
the  most  suitable  treaty  port  for  Hunan,  as  at  that  time 
the  province  was  without  that  convenience  for  trade.  An 
immense  trade  passes  between  Tungting  Lake  and  the 
Yangtse. 

On  the  whole,  no  river  in  the  world  offers  the  advan- 
tages to  navigation  in  area  afforded  by  the  Yangtse  and 
its  subsidiaries,  "  which  render  the  whole  basin  acces- 
sible as  far  as  the  Yalung."  In  one  of  Mr.  Justice  Bourne's 
reports,  1898,  he  states :  "  The  Yangtse  regulations  to 
which  foreign  trade  and  shipping  have  to  conform  are 
utterly  obsolete  and  require  revision."  If  foreign  trade 
demands  such  revision,  then  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
bringing  it  about,  and  the  governments  should  be  held 
responsible  for  criminal  neglect  until  this  has  been 
accomplished. 

Another  important  natural  waterway,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  merchant,  is  the  Canton  or  West  River,  Hsi 


342  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Kiang,  which  rises  fn  the  east  of  the  province  of  Yunnan 
and,  having  meandered  at  will  through  the  valleys  of  this 
large  but  undeveloped  province,  enters  the  populous 
province  Kwangsi,  at  its  northwest  corner,  near  Loping, 
and  with  an  irregular  course  flows  in  a  direction  nearly- 
southwest  through  the  province  until  it  enters  Kwang- 
tung  near  Wuchow.  It  empties  into  the  sea,  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  farther  east,  where  it  is  known  as  the 
Chukiang  or  Pearl  River.  This  river,  with  its  tribu- 
taries, drains  a  region  which  cannot  fall  short  of  130,000 
square  miles,  —  nearly  all  the  country  east  of  the  Yung, 
ling  and  south  of  the  Nanling  ranges. 

By  the  Burma  Frontier  Treaty  the  treaty  ports  Sam- 
shui  and  Wuchowfu  were  opened  in  1897,  and  the  follow- 
ing ports  of  call  were  established  on  this  valuable  trade 
river,  Shinhing,  Kanchuck,  and  Kongmun. 

The  river  is  navigable  for  three  hundred  miles  of  its 
length  for  river  steamers  of  large  carrying  capacity,  and 
by  small  boats  for  about  nine  hundred  miles  on  the  Ku 
Chow  River,  after  which  rapids  are  met  impeding  any 
navigation.  Boats  of  three-feet  draught  reach  by  the  Ku 
Chow  River  almost  to  the  borders  of  Kweichow  province ; 
but  above  Hsem  Chow  there  is  the  Lutau  rapid  imped- 
ing steamer  traffic  until  the  submerged  rocks  shall  be 
removed,  after  which  it  should  present  no  difficulty. 
Compared  with  other  rivers  of  China,  three  hundred  miles 
of  navigation  does  not  seem  much,  but  that  great  dis- 
tributing centre,  Hongkong,  gives  it  a  very  great  impor- 
tance as  a  commercial  river  which  enables  the  teeming 
populations  of  the  "  Two  Kwang  "  provinces  to  obtain  by 
cheap  water  transit  the  unloading  of  the  western  products 
in  that  British  territory. 

The  numerous  likin  barriers  on  this  river  have  been 
brought  to  the  notice   of  merchants  by   the   Blackburn 


WATER   TRANSIT  343 

China  Commission  in  their  report,  1898.  The  report  says : 
"  It  would  not  be  using  too  strong  an  epithet  to  describe  as 
criminal  the  policy  that,  so  far  from  utilizing  to  its  utmost 
capacity  as  a  medium  of  communication  the  waters  of  such 
a  river  as  the  West  River,  by  a  pernicious  fiscal  system  so 
harasses  merchants  that  they  are  compelled  to  get  their 
goods  to  the  large  towns  on  its  upper  waters  by  a  cir- 
cuitous overland  route."  This  barrier  to  the  develop- 
ment of  British  and  American  as  well  as  European  trade 
generally  no  longer  exists,  thanks  to  the  new  treaty 
between  the  United  States  and  China  by  which  likin 
is  abolished,  its  place  being  taken  by  an  increased  mari- 
time customs  duty. 

The  same  commission,  in  its  report,  gives  a  most  inter- 
esting item  of  commercial  importance  with  regard  to 
transit  facilities  as  follows:  "It  is  a  fact  not  generally 
known  and  one  that  illustrates  vividly  the  wonderful 
waterways  of  the  interior  of  China,  that  it  is  possible  to 
start  from  Shanghai  and  proceed  by  boat  up  the  Yangtse 
to  Hankow,  thence  across  Hunan  to  the  head  waters  of 
the  Siang  River,  where  a  canal  is  cut  uniting  with  the 
head  waters  of  the  Kuikiang,  past  Kuilin,  the  capital  of 
Kwangsi  province,  down  to  Wuchow,  Canton,  and  Hong- 
kong,— a  round  tour  of  some  fifteen  hundred  miles  by 
water  the  whole  way."  The  importance  of  this  water 
communication  cannot  be  exaggerated,  and  becomes  ap- 
parent when  it  is  stated  that  by  this  means  merchants, 
carrying  on  business  in  the  districts  or  prefectures  in  the 
south  of  Kiangsi  and  north  of  Kwangsi,  are  enabled  to 
draw  their  supplies  by  water  from  both  the  great  dis- 
tributing centres,  Hongkong  and  Shanghai,  with  com- 
parative ease,  and  such  routes  being  competitive  tend  to 
reduce  the  cost  of  transit  to  these  remote  regions.  The 
existence   of  the   above  route  has  long   been   known   to 


344  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

travellers,  but  may  come  as  a  revelation  to  the  treaty-port 
trader. 

The  Amur,  Sagalien,  Kwangtung,  and  Hehlungkiang, 
under  its  various  names,  —  generally  typical  of  its  "  black 
water,"  which  is  the  distinction  the  Chinese  bestow  on  a 
clear  river,  in  contradistinction  to  a  yellow  or  red  river, 
names  typifying  muddy  waters, —  is  of  course  one  of  the 
great  natural  waterways  of  China,  but  its  use  as  a  com- 
mercial highroad  is  minimized  by  the  fact  that  it  comes 
within  "  the  great  frost-line,"  that  is  to  say,  it  is  closed  to 
commercial  traffic  by  the  prevalence  of  ice  from  November 
until  about  the  middle  of  April,  although  in  favourable 
years  it  is  open  at  the  end  of  March ;  this  is  not  the  rule 
but  the  exception.  This  means  that  traffic  is  really 
restricted  to  the  months  from  May  to  October. 

The  Amur  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  spelled,  Amoor,  with  its 
great  tributaries  the  Ingoda  and  Argun,  its  other  tributaries 
the  Shilka,  Ussuri,  and  Sungari  with  its  tributaries  Nonni, 
Hurka,  Mayen,  Tunni,  and  Hulan,  is  one  of  the  most  won- 
derful, most  imposing,  not  to  say,  most  historic  waterways 
in  the  world.  It  waters  an  agricultural  Garden  of  Eden  in 
its  course  east  from  Baikalia  through  old  and  new  Man- 
churia, but  little  use  has  been  and  is  made  of  the  power  of 
its  current  to  manufacture  such  products  of  the  earth  as  are 
cultivated  in  its  vicinity.  In  parts  of  its  course  the  bed 
gets  very  broad  and  becomes  studded  with  islands  and 
sand  or  mud  banks,  which  form  a  serious  barrier  to  naviga- 
tion. The  regions  to  the  south  of  this  river  are  about  the 
richest  in  the  world  in  mineral  resources,  forests,  game, 
etc.,  and  when  once  it  is  decided  to  make  the  earth  yield 
these  fruits  of  creation,  then  the  importance  of  the  Amur 
and  its  subsidiary  streams  will  become  better  known  to  the 
world  in  general.  The  navigable  portion  of  this  river,  and 
that  of  its  great  tributaries,  combined,  would  amount  in 


WATER   TRANSIT  345 

the  summer  and  autumn  to  between  two  thousand  and 
three  thousand  miles.  For  many  years  its  interest  and 
importance  has  been  mainly  political  rather  than  commer- 
cial. On  the  tributary,  the  Sungari,  navigable  for  six 
hundred  and  forty-three  miles,  a  considerable  native  traffic 
is  conducted  from  Kirin,  scarcely  one  hundred  miles  from 
the  mountains  in  which  it  rises  to  the  south,  to  its  junction 
with  the  Nonni,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  down  the 
river,  that  is  to  say,  north-northwest  of  Kirin.  This 
section  of  the  river  has  a  navigable  channel  about  nine 
hundred  yards  wide  and  over  twelve  feet  deep  at  ordinary 
times  but  during  the  summer  torrents  and  floods  both  the 
width  and  depth  are  considerably  increased.  This  in  turn 
gives  place  to  a  bend  running  northeast  for  a  short  dis- 
tance where  the  bed  is  over  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  with  a 
general  depth  of  three  to  four  feet ;  but,  according  to 
native  accounts,  it  is  intersected  by  an  intricate  navigable 
channel  about  eight  feet  in  depth.  From  Harbin  to 
Sungsing,  at  the  junction  of  the  Hurka  and  Sungari,  the 
river  narrows  to  about  a  mile  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
in  width  and  has  a  navigable  channel  of  eight  to  ten  feet 
deep  at  lowest  water  level.  From  this  on,  to  the  junction 
with  the  Amur,  the  Sungari  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
rivers  of  the  world,  and  is  a  fast-running,  navigable  water- 
way through  varying  and  picturesque  scenery.  With  the 
one  exception  of  the  short  strip  above  mentioned,  the  river 
from  Kirin  to  Novaia  offers  enormous  advantages  to  tran- 
sit enterprise,  as,  for  instance,  to  shallow-draught  river 
steamers  and  powerful  tugs  and  launches  for  towing 
heavily  laden  lighters  and  native  craft. 

Harbin,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Sungari  in  the  province 
of  Kirin,  may  be  said  to  be  a  town  of  mushroom  growth, 
very  much  like  Dalny  in  this  respect,  and  has  replaced  the 
old  market  town  and  caravan  exchange  on  the  left  bank 


346  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

of  the  Sungari,  namely,  Hulantien.  It  is  a  Russian  town 
about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  within  the  Man- 
churian  frontiers,  and  in  the  plan  of  its  construction,  its 
artificial  facilities  for  trade,  the  concentration  of  the 
various  markets  within  its  compass,  and  the  numerous 
industrial  works,  such  as  railway  workshops,  sawmills, 
flour-mills,  etc.,  which  have  been  called  into  existence 
within  a  comparatively  few  years,  it  calls  for  the  fullest 
admiration  of  the  Russian  pioneers  who  conceived  and 
achieved  this  colossal  work  in  so  brief  a  time.  There 
are  really  two  towns  here,  a  Chinese  and  a  foreign,  with 
an  aggregate  civil  population  of  little  less  than  200,000. 

Between  this  most  important  town  and  Nuan  and  Har- 
barovsk  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  Company  (Russian) 
have  a  fleet  of  three  large  steamers  and  about  twenty  tug- 
boats engaged  in  towing  heavily  laden  lighters,  and  even 
this  fleet  can  only  cope  with  a  very  small  percentage  of 
the  transit  trade. 

Kirin  is  a  walled  town,  stretching  for  fully  two  miles 
along  the  left  bank  of  the  Sungari,  and  is  the  capital  of 
the  province  of  the  same  name.  It  is  a  great  boat-build- 
ing centre,  possesses  an  arsenal,  powder-mills,  has  a  great 
local  and  district  trade  in  charcoal,  though  large  coal-fields 
exist  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  are  only  burrowed  or 
tunnelled  in  the  usual  Chinese  way,  where  outcrops  are 
found  amongst  the  hills;  this  class  of  coal,  being  surface 
material,  is  rolled  and  inferior,  and  burns  rapidly.  Con- 
sequently there  is  the  general  impression  that  Kirin  coal 
is  not  worth  mining,  but  there  could  not  be  a  greater  mis- 
take, as  borings  prove  the  existence  of  hard  coal  little, 
if  at  all,  inferior  to  Cardiff  coal.  Iron  abounds  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  there  are  numerous  native  iron-works 
in  the  town. 

An  observant  traveller,  Consul- General  Hosie,  estimates 


WATER   TRANSIT  347 

the  population  of  the  capital  city  at  about  100,000, 
but  the  outlying  suburbs  increase  this  total.  Along 
the  valley  of  the  Sungari,  on  its  passage  through  the 
Kirin  province,  may  be  seen  numerous  native  gold-work- 
ings, carried  on  as  alluvial  washings;  and  from  the 
turnover,  with  the  primitive  appliances  at  hand,  all  for- 
eign miners  who  have  travelled  in  these  regions  are 
agreed  that  it  must  be  one  of  the  richest  districts  in  the 
world  as  a  gold-mining  area.  Hosie  gives  an  account  of 
Chinese  information  showing  that  one  native  company 
produces,  as  the  result  of  a  few  days'  work,  gold  to  the 
amount  of  three  pounds  avoirdupois.  He  also  states 
that  Kirin  coal  is  sold  in  the  capital  at  from  six  to 
twelve  shillings  a  ton  according  to  quality.  Fine  coal  is 
produced  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Tungchiang,  which 
is  carted  across  to  Kirin  and  is  used  on  the  steamers  and 
tugs  on  the  Sungari  and  Amur.  Lead,  silver,  and  copper 
are  also  worked,  and  the  manufactured  product  trans- 
ported over  this  waterway.  A  large  transport  of  pine  and 
elm  logs  from  the  Chan  Pai  Shan  (Long  White  Mountain) 
and  from  the  forests  along  the  river  banks,  continues  on  this 
river  throughout  the  summer  months ;  the  timber,  being 
felled  in  late  autumn  and  winter,  is  cleaned  and  ready  for 
transport  to  Harbin  or  farther  north  and  northeast  as  soon 
as  the  ice  breaks  and  the  river  is  open  to  navigation. 

With  the  exception  of  the  aforementioned  towns  the 
only  one  of  importance  in  the  valley  of  the  Sungari  is 
Tsitsihar  or  Puk'usi  on  the  Nonni,  the  large  tributary  join- 
ing the  Sungari  on  its  left  bank.  This  town  is  the  capital 
of  the  Hehlungkiang  province.  The  river  on  which  it 
is  situated  is  navigable  from  this  town  to  the  Sungari  by 
large  junks  and  towed  lighters,  and  by  boats  of  light 
draught  for  another  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  up- 
stream as  far  as  Mergen. 


848  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Tsitsihar  itself  was  at  one  time  a  most  important  town 
on  the  direct  caravan  road  between  the  fur  districts  of 
the  Lake  Baikal  region  and  those  of  Korea  round  about 
the  Yalu  and  Tumen  rivers.  This  importance  was  at  one 
time  in  a  fair  way  of  disappearing,  but  owing  to  the 
construction  of  the  Manchurian  section  of  the  "Trans- 
Siberian  railway"  its  ancient  glory  would  appear  to  be 
returning;  sawmills  and  flour-mills  have  sprung  up  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nonni  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Tsitsihar,  and  the  busy  appearance  of  the  streets,  flooded 
with  industrious  Chinese  instead  of  the  former  slothful 
Manchurian  inhabitants,  speaks  well  for  the  future  mer- 
cantile value  of  this  city,  situated  as  it  is  in  a  maiden  val- 
ley where  there  is  little  difficulty  in  raising  grain  or  any 
other  crops.  There  are  some  camel's-wool  carpet,  camel's- 
wool  felt,  and  bean  factories,  etc.,  in  this  town,  completely 
run  by  the  ignorant  Chinese.  Such  factories  add  to  the 
importance  of  the  navigation  of  both  the  Nonni  and  Sun- 
gari  as  feeders  of  the  shipping  traffic  of  the  Amur. 

The  next  most  important  tributary  of  the  Amur  is  the 
Shilka,  which  wends  its  way  through  valleys  wooded  with 
pine,  ash,  elm,  birch,  and  beech  to  the  water's  edge  or 
through  deep-cut  gorges  where  rock  cliffs  tower  hundreds 
of  feet.  As  a  natural  waterway  its  importance  can  be 
appreciated  when  it  is  said  that  in  conjunction  with  the 
Amur,  these  two  form  a  stream  navigable  for  steam  traffic 
for  fully  2130  miles,  that  is  to  say,  from  Nikolaevsk  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Amur  to  Stretensk,  and,  according  to  Hosie, 
sometimes  as  far  as  Metrofauor,  which  would  add  close 
upon  another  one  hundred  miles  to  the  navigable  bed. 
The  navigable  channel  of  this  lengthy  waterway  is  marked, 
lighted,  and  buoyed,  and  the  Russian  government  has 
taken  every  possible  means  that  engineering  can  recom- 
mend, to  safeguard  navigation  thereon  and  improve  the 


WATER   TRANSIT  349 

navigable  bed.  Most  of  the  steamers  that  ply  on  this 
river  burn  wood,  of  which  there  is  an  abundance  on 
either  bank.  Great  piles  of  this  fuel  are  noticeable  at 
the  river  stations.  Of  course  coal  could  be  used,  but  the 
rich  deposits  in  which  Manchuria  abounds  have  not  been 
developed  sufficiently  to  meet  the  demand.  The  Shilka, 
during  the  earlier  weeks  of  May,  is  generally  so  shallow 
that  navigation  is  most  difficult  and  uncertain,  but  later, 
in  June  and  July,  when  the  water  rises,  vessels  of  from 
six  to  ten  feet  draught  encounter  no  difficulties.  At  all 
times  the  narrows,  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  wide,  have  sufficient  water. 

The  Russian  government  has  made  most  elaborate  sur- 
veys of  the  river  and  of  the  surrounding  country.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  here,  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
world,  especially  in  America,  tillage  may  in  time  beat 
back  the  frost-line. 

The  valley  of  the  Shilka  is  an  extensive  horse,  cattle, 
and  sheep  raising  area.  The  transportation  of  the  live 
stock  is  effected  by  means  of  broad,  shallow-draught  light- 
ers, and  sometimes  by  means  of  rafts  —  a  clever  device  by 
means  of  which  the  industrious  Chinese  bring  both  cattle 
and  logs  to  the  markets  and  sawmills  down  the  river. 

Nearly  all  the  towns  on  the  Shilka  consist  of  squalid, 
wooden  houses,  and  are  filthy  in  the  extreme.  They  are 
of  little  importance,  and  many  of  them  are  only  temporary 
stations  which  serve  the  purpose  of  coaling  or,  properly 
speaking,  logging  the  passing  steamers. 

Very  little  less  important  than  the  Shilka  is  the  sister 
river,  the  Argun,  navigable  for  a  distance  of  four  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  from  its  junction  with  the  former.  There 
is  a  certain  amount  of  historic  importance  attached  to  this 
river,  as  in  the  year  1689  it  was  made  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  Russian  and  Chinese  empires  in  that  portion  of 


350  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

their  adjacent  territories.  In  Article  I.  of  the  treaty 
it  was  stipulated  :  "  The  country  south  of  the  Shihtahsing, 
with  all  its  rivers  and  streams  entering  the  Amur,  shall 
belong  to  China,  and  the  country  to  the  north  of  the 
range  with  its  rivers  and  streams  shall  belong  to  Russia." 
Article  II.  provides :  "  The  Ergune  or  Argun  River 
which  falls  into  the  Amur  shall  form  the  boundary.  The 
south  bank  shall  belong  to  China  and  the  north  bank  to 
Russia."  In  all  the  subsequent  treaties  delimiting 
boundaries  in  the  years  1727,  1768,  1851,  1858,  1860,  and 
1881  the  river  Argun,  or  Ergune,  is  acknowledged  as  the 
boundary  of  Manchuria  on  the  northwest  by  both  the  sig- 
natory powers. 

The  district  watered  by  the  Argun  is  naturally  fertile, 
but  is  practically  uncultivated.  However,  large  herds  of 
cattle,  sheep,  goats,  donkeys,  mules,  ponies,  Mongolian 
camels,  and  Mongolian  black  curly  dogs  raised  by  the 
nomadic  Mongols  in  this  region  are  transported  into  Rus- 
sian territory,  and  particularly  into  the  Baikalia  districts. 

On  the  Amur  itself  there  are  a  large  number  of  pros- 
perous towns  which  would  act  as  distributing  centres  for 
foreign  goods  were  it  not  for  the  treaty  of  Aigun,  1858,  the 
first  article  of  which  declared  the  waters  of  the  Amur,  the 
Sungari,  and  the  Ussuri  open  to  the  navigation  of  Russian 
and  Chinese  vessels  only,  thus  excluding  the  vessels  of 
foreign  countries.  Whether  this  article  of  this  treaty  can 
stand  in  face  of  the  most  favoured  nation  clauses  of  our 
treaties  with  China  and  with  Russia  remains  to  be  seen 
when  the  development  of  Manchuria  justifies  raising  the 
question.  As  it  is,  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  (Russian) 
with  its  subsidiary  and  allied  companies  maintains  a  fleet 
of  fully  one  hundred  and  twenty  steam  vessels  of  different 
descriptions  on  the  Amur  and  its  larger  tributaries.  All 
these  companies  are  Russian,  or  under  Russian  control.     I 


WATER   TRANSIT  351 

have  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  Amur,  its  tributaries,  and 
navigation,  because  the  value  of  these  waterways  is,  gen- 
erally speaking,  little  known,  but  they  bid  fair  in  a  few 
years  to  attract  world-wide  commercial  attention. 

The  river  next  in  trade  importance  is  the  Peiho.  Until 
1900  steamers  were  able  to  navigate  as  far  as  Tientsin 
only  with  great  diflBculty.  The  untoward  events  of  that 
year,  however,  and  the  Tientsin  Provisional  Government 
brought  about  the  long-demanded  work  of  Peiho  conserv- 
ancy. Since  1901  the  work  of  conservancy  has  proceeded 
apace,  and  in  little  more  than  three  years  three  large  cut- 
tings have  been  made  obviating  the  most  difificult  bends  of 
the  river,  and  greatly  facilitating  traffic.  Now  coasting 
and  river  steamers  proceed  up  on  the  flood-tide  and  dis- 
charge their  goods  at  the  Tientsin  Bund.  There  is  still, 
however,  the  "heaven-sent  barrier,"  or  Taku  Bar,  which 
acts  as  an  impediment  to  traffic.  The  water  on  the  bar  at 
low  tide  marks  four  to  six  feet,  and  consequently  vessels 
reaching  it  after  the  flood  have  but  poor  chance  of  cross- 
ing —  hence  Li  Hung  Chang's  expression,  the  "  heaven- 
sent barrier."  Any  vessels  unfortunate  enough  to  be 
caught  at  the  bar  at  low  water  must  lighter  their  cargoes, 
which  increases  considerably  the  expense  of  freighting. 

It  is  a  fact  not  generally  known,  or  not  generally  re- 
membered, in  the  midst  of  the  rapid  march  of  events  in 
China  during  the  past  half  century,  that  Tung  Chow,  and 
not  Tientsin,  was  the  great  junk  port  for  Peking  in  the 
pre-treaty  days,  the  Peiho  being  navigable  for  large  junks 
of  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons'  capacity  as 
far  as  Tung  Chow,  distant  only  twelve  miles  from  Peking. 
Smaller  river  junks  or  sailing  boats  could  at  one  time  pro- 
ceed up  to  Sunhua,  or  Shunyi,  thirty-five  miles  farther 
north.  This,  however,  was  during  the  days  when  the 
Heiho  (Black  River,  from  its  freedom  from  brown  mud) 


352  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

was  a  tributary  of  the  Peiho  (North  River).  Owing  to 
the  damage  annually  done  to  the  hinterland  of  Tientsin  by 
the  floods,  a  French  engineer  was  employed  to  report  a 
scheme  of  conservancy  to  Li  Hung  Chang.  This  engineer 
stated  that  the  trouble  came  from  the  great  flood  waters  of 
the  fast-flowing  Heiho,  that  by  diverting  the  waters  of  this 
river  into  the  Peitangho  the  flooding  of  the  Tientsin  hin- 
terland would  cease,  but  that  the  Peiho  would  gradually 
silt  up  and  become  almost  impassable  to  trafiic  owing  to  the 
formation  of  silt  bars  at  its  mouth.  Despite  this  warning, 
Li  Hung  Chang  persuaded  the  Emperor  to  issue  a  decree 
saying,  "Let  the  work  be  done."  It  was  done,  and  the 
clear  waters  of  the  Heiho  passed  through  the  Heiang  cut- 
ting and  joined  those  of  the  Hanho,  both  losing  themselves 
in  the  rapid  and  deep  Peitangho,  which  latter  empties  itself 
into  the  Gulf  of  Pechili,  ten  miles  north  of  Taku.  The 
ability  of  the  engineer,  as  well  as  his  appreciation  of  what 
must  result  from  cutting  off  the  scouring  head  waters,  has 
only  too  amply  been  manifested  in  the  condition  of  this 
waterway  during  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

As  Tientsin  is  at  the  head  of  that  stupendous  work,  the 
Grand  Canal,  it  had  an  importance  as  a  native  port  long 
before  it  was  dignified  by  being  included  in  the  category 
of  treaty  ports  (1860).  The  older  writers,  describing  the 
trade  of  Tientsin  and  Tung  Chow,  say  that  thousands  of 
native  junks  might  be  seen  discharging  their  cargoes  along 
the  banks  of  the  river  for  sixty  miles.  This  suffices  to  in- 
dicate the  importance  of  the  ancient  water  transit  of  the 
Peiho.  To-day,  however,  this  has  practically  all  disap- 
peared beyond  Tientsin,  owing  to  the  construction  of  the 
Peking-Tientsin  Railway,  and  to  the  shallowing  of  the 
river  described  above.  The  banks  of  the  Peiho,  both 
above  and  below  Tientsin,  are  crowded  with  native  vil- 
lages densely  packed  with  an  industrious  population. 


WATER   TRANSIT  353 

On  the  low,  flat  lands  on  each  side  of  the  river  between 
Tientsin  and  Taku  are  great  salt-pans  and  salt  heaps  or 
stacks  which,  being  a  government  monopoly,  bring  in  a 
large  income  to  the  Tientsin  native  treasury. 

Tientsin,  being  the  treaty  port,  is  the  town  on  the 
Peiho  with  which  foreigners  are  mostly  concerned,  and 
its  position  as  the  key  to  the  metropolitan  province,  the 
metropolis  itself,  and  to  the  great  northwest  of  China  and 
Mongolia,  gives  it  an  importance  as  a  port  second  perhaps 
to  none  in  the  Empire.  As  it  is,  the  trade  of  Tientsin, 
particularly  with  Japan,  is  developing  at  a  greater  rate 
than  that  of  either  Hongkong  or  Shanghai.  During  the 
troubles  of  1900  and  the  subsequent  occupation  of  Chili 
by  the  allied  troops,  the  German  military  engineers 
linked  Tung  Chow  and  Peking  with  a  short  railway  of 
standard  gauge.  This  has  somewhat  revived  the  boat 
trade  of  this  ancient  port  of  Peking,  but  to  no  appreciable 
extent.  Should,  however,  this  railroad  be  carried  on,  as 
suggested,  to  Yungpingfu  and  Chingwangtao,  the  impor- 
tance of  Tung  Chow  will  undoubtedly  revive  and  improve 
the  trade  on  this  upper  section  of  the  Peiho. 

At  Tientsin  there  are  separate  concessions  for  British, 
French,  Germans,  Japanese,  Russians,  etc.  The  separate 
concessions  have  not,  however,  been  changed  into  settle- 
ments like  the  Anglo-American  at  Shanghai. 

Owing  to  the  opening  of  such  places  as  Antung,  Tatung- 
kow,  and  Mukden  as  treaty  ports  or  foreign  trade  towns 
in  Manchuria,  the  lesser  waterways  of  this  part  of  the 
Empire  have  acquired  an  importance  not  hitherto  con- 
sidered. Of  these  lesser  waterways  the  Liao  Ho  and 
Yalu  are  the  most  important,  the  Liao  Ho  being  the  more 
important  commercially  of  the  two.  The  Liao  Ho,  under 
the  name  of  the  Lao  Ho  (Old  River),  rises  in  the  Wuhu- 
mahliang  (Five  Fox  and  Pony  Pass)  about  eighteen  miles 
2a 


364  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

due  north  of  Ping  Chuen  Chow  in  the  Jehol  districts  (Hot 
River  districts).  It  is  soon  joined  in  its  course  by  the 
Tseo  Rao  Ho  (Little  Old  River)  and  continues  generally- 
northward  for  about  seventy  miles  until  joined  by  the 
Kuntaoho,  which  diverts  it  northeast  past  Tsi  Cha 
toward  Hei  Sui,  where  it  gets  a  tributary  of  this  name 
(Black  Water).  From  this  point  it  becomes  navigable 
for  boats  drawing  two  to  four  feet  as  far  as  Ba  Cha  near 
the  junction  of  the  swollen  waters  of  the  Shilikaho  (com- 
ing from  the  north  of  the  Wei  Chang  or  Imperial  Hunt- 
ing Park)  with  the  Liao  Ho.  This  shallow-boat  traffic  has 
to  cease  about  half  a  mile  from  Ba  Cha  as  the  river  shoals 
to  about  nine  inches  and  spreads  to  over  half  a  mile  in 
width.  The  junction  of  the  Shilikaho  and  the  Liao  Ho  is 
important  as  limiting  the  eastern  end  of  the  extensive 
field  of  hard  coal  on  which  the  prefectural  and  market 
city  of  Chefenghsien  is  built.  The  combined  waters 
increase  both  the  width  and  general  depth  of  the  river 
which  averages  in  the  summer  months  for  the  next  hun- 
dred miles  a  width  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  next 
natural  barrage  is  met  above  the  confluence  of  the 
Yinchingho  with  the  Liao,  which  here  begins  to  assume 
the  Mongolian  name  of  Sirra  Murren.  On  this  stretch 
many  log  rafts  may  be  seen  going  up  and  down  the  river. 
Grain  boats  are  also  frequently  seen.  In  spite  of  the 
rapid  current,  however,  no  use  is  made  of  it  as  a  motor 
power  for  sawmills  or  flour-mills.  Its  next  tributary 
is  the  Sirha  Man  Ho,  a  swift,  deep  river,  of  which  no 
commercial  use  is  made  at  present.  The  course  of  the 
river  so  far  is  generally  toward  the  northeast.  It  carries 
very  little  boat  traffic  owing  to  the  numerous  shoals  (used 
as  fords),  which  would  necessitate  constant  trans-shipments 
of  cargo.  With  very  little  engineering  difficulty  tliese 
hindrances  could  be  removed,  opening  up  the  river  to 


WATER   TRANSIT  365 

steam-tug  and  launch  traffic  as  far  as  Chefenghsien,  a 
distance  of  about  four  hundred  miles  from  Chang  Chia 
Tung,  where  it  takes  a  southern  bend  for  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  to  Newchwang.  The  great  rapid  is 
at  Chang  Chia  Tung,  and  large  junks  of  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred  tons'  capacity  must  load  and  unload  near 
this  for  the  market-towns  of  Changchunfu,  Huaitehsien, 
Fenghuahsien,  and  Chaoyangpo.  About  seventy-five  miles 
from  its  mouth  the  Liao  Ho  is  joined  by  the  sister  rivers, 
the  Hun  Ho  and  Taitzuho,  Mukden  being  situated  on  the 
former  and  Liaoyang  on  the  latter.  Newchwang,  situated 
fourteen  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Liao  Ho,  was  opened 
as  a  treaty  port  in  the  year  1860  through  British  influence. 
On  the  stretch  of  river  between  Newchwang  and  Chang 
Chia  Tung  there  are  a  great  number  of  Chinese,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  Manchu,  market-towns.  Besides  these 
there  are  numerous  small  villages  daily  increasing  in 
houses,  population,  and  trade,  attributable  to  the  influx 
of  Chinese  immigrants  from  overpopulated  Shantung  and 
Chili.  The  river  at  Newchwang  is  from  a  half  to  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  and  the  town  and  settlements 
line  the  eastern  or  left  bank  for  a  distance  of  three  miles, 
and  extend  a  mile  into  the  interior.  Like  all  waterways 
of  Manchuria,  the  Liao  is  practically  closed  to  navigation 
from  November  to  the  middle  of  April,  though  in  mild 
years  the  port  of  Newchwang  may  be  open  a  week  earlier. 
Native  boat  rates  on  the  river  average  about  6  cents 
(Mexican)  or  l^d.  per  ton  mile.  Hosie  puts  down  Tung 
Chiangtzu,  two  hundred  miles  from  Newchwang,  as  the 
limit  of  navigation  for  trade  junks  on  this  river. 

As  by  treaty  foreigners  now  have  the  right  of  residing, 
for  commercial  purposes,  at  Wiju,  Yong  Chong,  Antung, 
and  Tatungkow  in  the  valley  of  the  Yalu  River,  this  water- 
way has  assumed  an  importance  little  dreamed  of  in  the 


356  CHINA  IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

past,  when  it  was  looked  upon  only  as  the  natural  boun- 
dary between  Korea  and  Manchuria.  This  river  is  sup- 
posed to  have  its  source  in  the  Chan  Pai  Shan  (Long 
White  Mountain)  in  Manchuria.  The  weight  of  evi- 
dence, however,  goes  to  show  that  the  main  head  stream 
is  that  locally  known  as  the  Sam-su  Kiang,  which  rises  in 
the  Paikun  San  in  Ham-yongdo  province  of  Korea.  Its 
source  is  at  a  height  of  4300  feet  above  the  sea-level.  A 
lesser  stream  rises  in  the  same  province  at  4800  feet  on 
Kap  San  Shan.  It  receives  a  great  volume  of  water  from 
such  mountain  torrents  as  the  Urtaokow,  Maochr  Ho, 
Pai  Shan  Shui,  and  numerous  others  coming  from  the 
Chan  Pai  Shan  and  Maochr  Shan.  In  these  regions 
there  are  dense  forests  of  pine,  elm,  ash,  beech,  birch, 
and  oak. 

As  already  noticed  with  reference  to  the  rivers  of  Man- 
churia, the  Yalu  is  closed  to  navigation  during  the  long 
and  trying  winter.  It  is  three  hundred  miles  long,  but 
is  not  navigable  for  junks  of  greater  capacity  than  two 
hundred  tons  above  Wiwou,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  the  mouth.  In  times  of  flood  they  can  go  as 
far  as  Chasong,  another  eighty  miles,  but  such  transit  can 
only  be  assured  for  about  six  weeks. 

The  main  tributary  of  the  Yalu,  the  Tung  Kiang,  is 
navigable  for  large  junks  as  far  as  Hweijenhsien,  fifty 
miles  from  the  junction  with  the  Yalu. 

The  whole  valley  of  the  Yalu  offers  a  fine  field  for 
mining  development.  When  the  many  concessions  in  the 
region  about  Tunghua,  Hweijen,  and  Nen  San,  held  by 
English  and  American  syndicates,  have  been  exploited, 
the  commercial  value  of  this  little-known  but  important 
waterway  must  attract  universal  attention.  Such  condi- 
tions must  result  from  another  direction,  namely,  the  con- 
struction of  the  Seoul- Wiju  railway,  which  at  a  later  date 


"WATER   TRANSIT  857 

may  be  expected  to  join  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway 
system  at  Liaoyang. 

The  present  trade  of  the  Yalu  would  not  justify  men- 
tioning it  among  the  waterways  of  China,  yet  the  oppor- 
tunities it  affords  for  developing  the  import  and  export 
trade  of  eastern  Manchuria  and  northern  Korea  will  not 
permit  of  its  being  passed  over.  Like  all  the  neglected 
natural  waterways  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  its  channels, 
many  of  which  exist  in  the  stretch  of  river  from  Kweiling 
Chang  to  the  sea,  are  barred  by  numerous  ever  changing 
sand-banks  which  make  navigation  very  dangerous. 

In  point  of  size,  the  Yellow  River  or  Hwang-ho,  is  the 
greatest  of  all  the  natural  waterways  of  China,  but  from 
a  commercial  standpoint  it  is  of  little  importance.  This 
is  not  surprising,  as  throughout  its  entire  vast  length  the 
current  is  faster  than  that  of  the  Yangtse  in  full  flood, 
and  it  is,  in  consequence,  useless  for  navigation.  The 
strength  of  this  current  should  make  the  river  of  great 
value  in  developing  electrical  power.  The  Yellow  River 
could  provide  lighting  for  all  the  large  cities  of  the  re- 
gions drained  by  its  waters,  as  well  as  power  for  the 
thousands  of  silk  looms  throughout  the  "Middle  King- 
dom." No  attempt,  however,  has  been  made  by  either 
natives  or  foreigners  to  harness  its  waste  waters,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  is  tapped  for  the  maintenance  of  the  level 
of  the  Grand  Canal. 

The  artificial  waterways  of  China  are  many,  but  one 
stands  out  as  a  historic  work,  namely,  the  Cha  Ho  (River 
of  Flood  Gates),  Yun  Ho  (Transit  River),  or  Grand 
Canal.  It  is  acknowledged  that  the  rivers  of  China  are 
her  glory — then  her  canals  and  creeks  are  the  glory  of 
the  Chinese,  and  of  all  these  artificial  waterways  that  which 
intersects  the  country  north  and  south  from  Tientsin  to 
Hangchow  stands  out  as   one  of  the  most   stupendous 


358  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

works  in  a  country  where  great  works  were  the  pastime 
of  dynasties,  the  Grand  Canal.  In  a  country  like  China, 
full  of  legend  and  superstition,  no  great  work  like  the 
Grand  Canal  could  have  been  carried  out  without  some 
mystic  influence,  and  thus  the  canal  is  endowed  with  a 
"  Dragon  King"  or  genius  of  the  elements,  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  the  canal  and  its  fortunes  in  his  special 
keeping. 

The  great  Kublai  Khan,  like  some  other  great  men,  got 
more  credit  than  he  actually  deserved.  To  him  was 
attributed  the  credit  of  initiating  this  useful  work,  but 
much  of  it  was  in  existence  long  before  the  days  of  this 
truly  marvellous  man. 

The  full  reach  between  the  Hwang-ho  and  Yangtse- 
kiang  was  first  mentioned  during  the  Han  dynasty,  and 
immediately  became  a  great  developer  of  trade  between 
the  commercial  towns  which  antedated  its  construction, 
or  sprung  up  along  its  banks  subsequently.  About  the 
year  600  a.d.  it  was  found  that  it  had  been  allowed  to  fall 
into  very  bad  order,  and  it  was  repaired  during  the  reign 
of  the  enlightened  general  who  founded  the  Sung  dynasty. 
When  his  successors  lived  at  Hangchow,  they  extended 
the  great  work  as  far  as  that  capital,  by  the  cutting  from 
Chinkiang  via  Changchow,  Soochow,  and  Kialing.  This 
was  all  completed  before  William  the  Conqueror  was 
born,  but  it  was  not  until  about  the  year  1289  a.d.  that 
the  section  between  Peking  and  the  Yellow  River,  south 
of  Tungchaufu,  and  near  Tai  Chow,  was  completed  and 
opened  by  the  Mongols,  thus  giving  an  entire  navigable 
artificial  waterway  of  over  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  — 
by  far  the  longest  in  the  world.  Owing,  however,  to  its 
varying  in  depth  and  width  so  frequently  throughout  its 
length,  the  through  navigation  is  not  what  this  might  be. 
Few  works  in  the  world  compare  with  it  to-day,  but  at 


WATER   TRANSIT  359 

the  time  of  its  construction  there  were  none  like  it.  It 
passes  practically  throughout  its  entire  length  through 
very  light  alluvial  soil  liable  to  floods  from  the  more  rap- 
idly flowing  streams,  and  consequently  its  banks  are  in 
need  of  constant  attention. 

For  two  hundred  miles  between  the  Peiho  and  Yellow 
rivers  its  banks  have  been  raised  to  bring  its  waters 
throughout  its  course  up  to  the  level  of  the  Yun  River 
at  Kaihochin.  The  sluices  which  keep  the  water  at  a 
constant  level  are  of  the  very  rudest  construction,  but 
they  answer  the  purpose  admirably. 

Tientsin,  at  the  junction  of  this  canal  with  the  Peiho, 
has  always  enjoyed  an  importance  as  a  great  grain  depot, 
being  the  station  at  which  was  stored  all  the  tribute  grain 
carried  over  this  waterway.       Other  important  stations  / 

along  its  route,  which  have  in  the  past,  and  may  again  in  ' 

the  future,  become  important  market  centres,  are  Tsang 
Chow  and  King  Chow  in  Chili ;  Teh  or  Tei  Chow  on  the 
borders  of  Chili  and  Shantung;  Lingtsingchow,  Tung 
Changfu,  Tung  Ping  Chow,  and  Tsining  Chow  in  Shan- 
tung ;  Pei  Chow,  Huaianf u,  Kiao  Yen  Chow,  and  Ying 
Chowfu  in  northern  Kiangsu;  Chinkiang,  Changchow, 
and  Soochow  in  southern  Kiangsu;  and  Kialingfu  and 
Hangchowfu  in  Chekiang  province.  Of  these  Tientsin, 
Chinkiang,  Soochow,  and  Hangchow,  being  treaty  ports, 
are  the  most  important  to  foreigners.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  deepening  and,  where  possible,  widening 
of  this  canal  and  its  subsidiary  creeks,  so  that  larger 
steamers  could  ply  on  the  waters,  would  increase  enor- 
mously the  interchange  of  commodities  between  foreign 
and  Chinese  merchants,  and  would  generally  develop 
the  country.  From  a  commercial  point  of  view  one  of 
the  most  important  improvement  works  in  connection 
with  the  canal  would  be  the  widening  and  deepening  of 


860  CHINA   IN  LAW  AND   COMMEKCE 

one  or  two  of  the  already  numerous  creeks  connecting 
the  Hwang-pu  with  the  Grand  Canal  and  the  Ta  Hu 
(Great  Lake),  and  thence  the  widening  and  deepening 
of  one  of  the  bigger  "rice  canals"  or  creeks  to  Wuhu. 
There  is  no  engineering  difficulty  in  the  way  of  such 
work  if  the  line  of  the  ancient  Yangtse  mouth  be  fol- 
lowed, which  time  and  official  neglect,  together  with  ill- 
considered  irrigation  works  in  the  rice  and  tea-tree  regions, 
have  allowed  to  silt  up  to  the  narrowest  and  shallowest  of 
creeks. 

With  the  imperial  edict  and  regulations  (1898)  permit- 
ting the  navigation  of  the  China  inland  waterways,  the 
advantages  of  the  canal  as  a  trade  route  have  been  opened 
up  to  foreigners,  who,  however,  are  inclined  to  let  this 
permission  lapse  by  non-user,  like  so  many  other  advan- 
tages obtained  for  them  by  the  various  diplomatic  repre- 
sentatives at  Peking.  By  reason  of  its  falling  into  bad 
repair  and  the  changing  of  the  Yellow  River's  course, 
nothing  like  the  ancient  traffic  is  carried  on  by  this  water- 
way ;  but  still  very  large  river  junks  ply  up  the  more 
navigable  reaches,  some  carrying  as  much  as  six  hundred 
to  eight  hundred  tons  of  more  compact  goods,  and  two 
hundred  to  four  hundred  tons  of  bale  goods  at  a  rate  of 
about  ^d.  to  l^d.  per  ton  mile. 

Though  not  actually  canals,  both  the  Hwang-pu  and 
Soochow  creeks  (now  tidal  waterways,  but  formerly  out- 
lets of  the  Yangtse)  may  be  looked  upon  as  trade  canals 
on  which  ply  small  junks  and  native  passenger  boats 
drawn  in  train  by  steam  launches.  The  Hwang-pu,  on 
which  is  situated  that  great  trade  accumulating  and  dis- 
tributing centre,  Shanghai,  is  the  greater  and  more  im- 
portant of  the  two,  and  the  native  craft  on  it  are  of  very 
much  greater  carrying  capacity  than  those  on  the  latter 
creek,  which  is  a  continuous   source   of  worry   to   the 


WATER  TRANSIT  361 

Imperial  Customs  of  China  owing  to  the  extent  to  which 
it  is  constantly  silting  up.  Very  large  towed  trains  ply 
between  Shanghai  and  Hangchow  by  way  of  the  Hwang- 
pu  and  Grand  Canal.  This  mode  of  transit  is  cheaper 
than  in  any  other  country,  but  there  are  the  too  frequent 
annoyances  of  likin  barriers  which  interfere  with  the  rapid 
expansion  of  trade  in  this  naturally  rich  country. 

Of  the  lesser  canals,  that  mentioned  previously  which 
connects  the  Yangtse  with  the  West  River,  by  way  of 
the  head  waters  of  the  Siangho  and  those  of  the  Kuikiang, 
though  only  about  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  yet  offers 
first-class  opportunities  for  the  development  of  foreign 
import  and  native  export  as  well  as  general  transit  trade. 
Consequently,  it  assumes  an  importance  which  under 
other  conditions  would  not  be  accorded  it.  Here  again 
likin  stations  have  been  a  hindrance  to  general  usefulness. 

The  Lutai  Canal  in  Chili  was  cut  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  the  products  of  the  Kaiping  collieries  to  Tientsin 
and  extends  from  Lutai  to  Tientsin  native  city,  where, 
having  crossed  the  Peitangho,  it  joins  the  Peiho.  At 
the  time  of  its  cutting  it  proved  a  most  valuable  water- 
way, but  its  utility  has  been  to  a  great  extent  offset  by 
the  construction  of  the  Chinese  Imperial  Railway  by  Mr. 
Kinder,  the  former  engineer  and  raanager-in-chief  of  the 
Kaiping  or  Tangshan  collieries.  It,  however,  still  carries 
considerable  quantities  of  coal  on  large  barges,  and  much 
grain  is  transported  on  its  waters  at  very  low  rates.  Its 
length  is  about  forty-five  miles,  but  it  is  both  narrow  and 
shallow. 

There  is  another  canal  constructed  by  Kien-lung  and 
known  by  his  name.  It  is  about  one  hundred  miles  in 
length  and  extends  from  Ifenghsien  in  Honan  to  the  Hui 
River  in  Nganhui,  thus  connecting  the  Yellow  River  with 
Lake  Hungtsze  on  the  Nganhui- Kiangsu  border. 


362  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMEPwCE 

Throughout  all  the  plains  aud  delta  formations  in 
China  are  numerous  cuttings  utilized  for  irrigation  and 
small-boat  navigation,  and  though  they  fill  a  most  impor- 
tant need,  they  are,  both  in  conception  and  construction, 
an  impeachment,  for  ignorance,  of  the  descendants  of 
those  who  had  the  ability  to  construct  the  Grand  Canal. 
Many  of  these  cuttings  have  practically  destroyed  the 
navigability  of  the  waterways  from  which  they  obtain 
their  supply  of  water,  and  in  no  place  is  this  more  appar- 
ent than  in  the  hinterland  of  Shanghai,  where  the  Hwang- 
pu  and  Soochow  creeks  have  been  injured  in  this  way. 

The  canalling  and  creeking  of  China  has  increased  her 
water  communications  by  something  between  7000  and 
9000  miles,  according  to  various  estimates,  but  very 
little  of  this  length  is  utilized  for  steam  or  larger  junk 
traffic. 

River  and  Coasting  Traffic.  —  The  value  placed  upon  the 
Chinese  waterways  and  coast  traffic  may  be  inferred  from 
the  number  of  ships  sailing  under  various  flags.  There 
are  close  upon  five  hundred  such  vessels,  of  considerable 
tonnage,  independent  of  those  registered  under  the  1898 
ordinance  for  the  control  of  navigation  on  the  inland 
waterways  of  China,  The  foreign-owned  coasting  and 
river  steamers  amount  to  over  seven  times  those  owned 
by  Chinese,  but  with  regard  to  the  small  craft  plying  on 
inland  waterways  under  the  regulations  of  1898  the  pro- 
portion is  more  than  reversed.  In  fact,  the  Chinese  may 
be  said  to  control  practically  the  whole  of  this  service, 
notwithstanding  the  opportunities  it  offers  foreigners  for 
extending  their  commerce.  The  total  volume  of  export 
and  import  trade  for  the  year  1890  was  H.K.  taels 
214,239,961  and  for  1898  H.K.  taels  368,616,483,  and 
this  total  had  swelled  in  the  year  1902  to  the  imposing 
figure  of  H.K.  taels  529,545,489;    that  is  to  say,  more 


WATER  TRANSIT  363 

than  doubled  in  the  twelve  years  between  the  first  and 
last  dates  named. 

All  this  increase  in  export  and  import  trade  must  affect 
the  distributing  and  collecting  media,  which  in  China  at 
the  present  time  are  the  ships  for  coast  and  river  trans- 
port. There  can  be  but  one  result  —  more  coasting  and 
river  ships  must  appear  in  Chinese  waters  to  handle  this 
increasing  exchange  of  commodities.  At  the  present  time 
and  for  many  years  past  the  British  flag  has  floated  over 
the  majority  of  Chinese  trading  vessels,  but  the  Japanese 
have  been  rapidly  eating  into  this  supremacy,  particularly 
in  the  Gulf  of  Pechili  and  Korea  Bay.  The  craft  of  the 
latter,  though  now  numerous,  are  of  smaller  tonnage  than 
those  of  their  western  allies,  and  in  this  have  in  some  meas- 
ure advantage,  as  they  can  navigate  shallower  rivers  and 
push  their  trade  farther  into  the  interior  than  can  the 
British. 

The  Japanese  stop  their  vessels  at  all  calling  stations 
not  treaty  ports,  whereas  the  German  and  British  flags 
only  check  at  the  larger  stations  and  treaty  ports  on 
the  coast  or  river  banks. 

The  Japanese,  understanding  the  Oriental  customers 
better  than  do  westerners,  are  gradually  working  into  a 
transit  trade  in  China  which  will,  at  a  later  day,  justify 
them  in  putting  larger  vessels  on  the  service.  Mean- 
while their  little  craft  of  a  few  hundred  tons'  capacity 
earn  good  profits. 

The  oversea  shipping  is  rapidly  on  the  increase  to  and 
from  Japan,  Korea,  the  Philippines,  the  Straits  Settlements, 
and  the  French  and  Dutch  Indies.  Vessels  are  being  built 
locally  to  meet  local  requirements,  but  a  definite  study  of 
local  conditions  would  enable  foreign  ship-builders  to  com- 
pete in  contracting  for  coast  and  river  steamers. 

In  the  year  1897  the  steamships  engaged  in  the  coasting 


364  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

service  and  transocean  service  did  not  exceed  80,000  tons, 
whereas  to-day  one  of  the  local  shipping  firms  could  boast 
of  a  greater  gross  tonnage. 

The  freightage  and  passenger  rates  for  coast  or  river 
journey  are,  on  an  average,  very  low,  particularly  for 
Chinese  passengers  and  goods,  as  they  have  to  compete 
with  those  charged  by  the  cheap  but  slow  passenger  and 
freight  junks. 

At  the  present  day  a  Chinese  company,  the  China  Mer- 
chants' Steam  Navigation  Company,  has  a  fleet  of  thirty- 
four  vessels  with  total  net  tonnage  of  over  57,000  tons, 
while  another  company,  Yan  Sung  and  Company,  with 
twelve  steamers  carry  heavy  traffic  along  the  Chinese 
coast  and  rivers.  Of  British  firms  in  the  coasting  and 
river  traffic,  one,  the  Indo-China  Steam  Navigation  Com- 
pany, with  thirty-nine  vessels,  totals  over  59,000  net 
tonnage.  The  China  Navigation  Company  with  sixty 
vessels  totals  over  80,000  tons  net.  The  Chinese  Engi- 
neering and  Mining  Company  with  six  vessels  totals  over 
5900  tons  net.  T.  W.  Richardson  has  five,  totalling  3900 
tons.  McBain  and  Company's  five  steamers  total  3900 
tons.  Douglass  and  Company  has  over  5000  tons  dis- 
tributed over  six  vessels.  In  the  year  1903  the  Russians 
operated  twenty  steamers  belonging  to  the  Chinese  East- 
ern Railway  Company,  totalling  over  20,000  tons.  Six 
steamers,  totalling  5200  tons,  belonged  to  the  Mitsu 
Bishi  Goshi  Kaisha  and  carried  on  a  considerable  coast 
traffic,  especially  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechili,  while  the  Mitsu 
Bussan  Gomi  Kaisha  had  twenty-three  vessels,  totalling 
more  than  12,000  tons.  Other  Japanese  firms  engaged  in 
the  coast  and  river  traffic  of  China  are  the  Nippon  Yushe 
Kaisha  (eight  vessels),  the  Osaka  Shosen  Kaisha  (six 
vessels),  the  Toyo  Kisen  Kaisha,  and  the  Taito  Steam 
Navigation  Company. 


WATER   TRANSIT  365 

Of  German  firms  there  are  apparently  fewer  in  com- 
parison with  ten  years  ago,  but  that  comes  from  the 
larger  firms  having  absorbed  the  smaller.  The  Nord- 
deutscher  Lloyd  operates  nineteen  steamers  on  the  rivers 
and  coast-line.  Melchers  has  fifteen  in  the  same  trafiic, 
Siemssen  and  Company  have  five,  and  Buchheister  and 
Company,  one. 

The  American  flag  covers  the  Standard  Oil  Company's 
steamer  and  the  vessels  of  the  China-Manila  Steam  Ship- 
ping Company.  But  up  to  the  present  time  the  American 
people  have  not  taken  upon  their  shoulders  their  natural 
share  of  the  white  man's  burden  in  the  way  of  shipping 
on  the  coast  and  rivers  of  China.  British  firms  stand  at 
the  top  of  the  customs  list  of  clearances  and  tonnage, 
and  among  these  firms  the  China  Navigation  Company 
takes  the  lead.  The  German  position  in  this  class  of  trade 
is  slowly  but  surely  yielding  to  Japanese  energy.  French 
coasting  service  is  a  negligible  quantity.  Germany,  in 
fact,  is  the  only  continental  European  power  which  has 
seen  the  great  profits  to  be  derived  from  the  coasting 
traffic  and  river  transit  of  Chin?,. 

From  the  Chinese  Imperial  Maritime  Customs  Reports, 
1903,  the  following  local  or  coast  shipping  returns  show 
the  great  coast  and  riverine  traffic  which  is  gradually 
opening  up  in  China :  — 


366 


CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 


J*Wifl 

Tonnage  Out- 
wards 

Total  Tonnage 
of  Clearances 

Tonnage  Inwards 

Clearances  at 

Entries  at 

Total  Tonnage 

Treaty  Ports 

Treaty  Ports 

of  Entries 

British  .... 

9,321 

10,032,542 

9,459 

10,218,840 

American  . 

673 

72,014 

667 

54,460 

German 

2,368 

2,480,206 

2,416 

2,560,141 

French  .    . 

667 

164,446 

668 

161,007 

Dutch    .    . 

12 

13,892 

13 

15,348 

Danish  .    . 

26 

27,136 

32 

31,435 

Spanish.    . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Norwegian 

236 

223,622 

254 

251,249 

Swedish     . 

33 

28,870 

39 

32,694 

Russian 

324 

187,138 

316 

186,997 

Austrian    . 

3 

1,854 

.2 

1,236 

Belgian .    . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Italian  .    . 

— 

— 

1 

200 

Japanese    . 

2,651 

2,623,694 

2,581 

2,558,180 

Peruvian    . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Brazilian    . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Portuguese 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Korean  .    . 

11 

6,996 

11 

6,996 

Non-Treaty 

Powers  . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Chinese 

13,335 

4,551,717 

13,239 

4,540,375 

Total  . 

29,550 

20,314,127 

29,700 

20,619,158 

The  subjoined  table  gives  some  idea  of  the  use  of  this 
method  of  transportation  as  a  result  of  the  inland  steam 
navigation  ordinance  of  1898.  In  this  connection  inland 
navigation  means  traffic  between  any  ports  or  stations 
other  than  treaty  ports,  or  between  treaty  ports  and  these 
so-called  closed  or  Chinese  ports,  whether  on  coast,  river, 
canal,  or  creek.  So  that  for  vessels  registered  with  the 
Imperial  Maritime  Customs  for  inland  navigation,  which 
do  not   trade   to   foreign   countries  or  ports,  the    whole 


WATER   TRANSIT 


367 


of  China  may  now  be  said  to  be  one  treaty  port  for  the 
world.  And  there  is  no  objection  to  any  such  steamer 
being  fitted  up  as  a  commercial  traveller's  show-room  in 
order  to  push  his  trade  under  special  permit  from  the 
Imperial  Maritime  Customs  of  China.  The  vessels  reg- 
istered for  inland  steam  navigation  are  of  three  hundred 
tons  and  under. 


VESSELS  REGISTERED  1899  TO  1903 


1S99 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1908 

At  Tkeaty  Pokt 

> 

c 
to 

1 

> 

c 
tic 

1 

o 

> 

1 

1 

2 

33 

OS 
IZi 

> 
S 
eg 

iz; 

c 
ie 

o 

Newchwang   .... 















10 

2 

24 

Chefoo  .    . 

10 

3 

1 

14 

1 

76 

11 

46 

4 

56 

Yochow 

— 

— 

10 

— 

10 

1 

1 

3 

3 

Hankow 

13 

5 

14 

4 

11 

6 

6 

5 

4 

Kiukiang 

3 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

2 

— 

— 

— 

Wuhu    . 

2 

— 

1 

— 

— 

— 

2 

3 

2 

Nanking 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

3 

— 

Chinkiang 

— 

5 

2 

1 

— 

3 

1 

4 

5 

Shanghai 

40 

10 

38 

10 

25 

9 

21 

49 

12 

Soochow 

2 

— 

2 

— 

3 

— 

— 

1 

3 

Hangchow 

1 

— 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Ningpo  . 

6 

— 

6 

— 

6 

2 

5 

2 

6 

4 

Wenchow 

— 

— 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Foochow 

— 

— 

1 

— 

2 

— 

3 

4 

3 

Amoy    , 

8 

11 

6 

16 

7 

18 

7 

22 

1 

6 

Swatow . 

^    . 

6 

8 

6 

6 

6 

5 

— 

— 

1 

1 

Canton  . 

60 

22 

100 

14 

45 

18 

16 

12 

17 

15 

Samshui 

2 

1 

22 

— 

10 

1 

9 

1 

11 

2 

Wuchow 

17 

— 

33 

— 

19 

4 

11 

5 

12 

11 

Kiungchow 

— 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

1 

1 

Pakhoi  .     . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

368  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

The  regulations  were  amended  in  a  special  clause  of  the 
Sheng-MacKay  Treaty  of  Commerce,  and  the  years  1902 
and  1903  show  the  effect  of  the  facilities  therein  secured. 
Still  greater  advantage  was  taken  generally  of  the  regula- 
tions in  1904,  but  the  result  is  still  only  a  decimal  per- 
centage of  what  might  be  done  by  this  means. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BATLWAY  TEAN8IT 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  roads,  rivers,  canals, 
and  creeks  no  longer  cope  with  the  daily  increasing  ton- 
nage of  the  external  and  domestic  trade  of  China,  to 
which  railways  must  now  cater. 

Half  a  century  ago  Sir  Robert  Stephenson,  recognizing 
the  great  potentialities  of  railway  construction  in  China, 
hoped  to  establish  a  system  of  trunk  railways  which  would 
be  solely  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  government.  He 
had  the  idea  that  trunk  systems  were  of  great  military 
and  political  interest  to  the  state  and  that  they  conse- 
quently should  be  owned  and  controlled  by  the  state. 
The  feeders  or  branch  lines  might,  in  his  view,  be  with 
advantage  the  concern  of  private  enterprise. 

Few  things  in  the  modern  history  of  China  are  of  more 
universal  interest  than  those  connected  with  the  building 
and  running  of  her  first  railways  and  the  rush  made  by 
foreign  powers  and  individuals  to  secure  railway  rights  in 
China  in  the  closing  years  of  the  past  century.  No  ex- 
pression could  put  this  more  aptly  than  a  heading  to  an 
article  which  appeared  in  the  London  Times^  entitled  "  The 
Battle  of  the  Railway  Concessions  in  China."  Battles 
they  were,  but  not  of  war,  for  these  are  as  a  rule  clean 
and  creditable,  and  the  battles  of  the  railway  concessions 
in  China  were  accompanied  by  political  and  international 
jobbery  discreditable  to  the  pages  of  the  history  of  foreign 
connection  with  China. 

2  b  369 


370  CHINA  nr  law  and  commerce 

Nothing  was  done  at  the  time  of  Sir  Robert's  visit ; 
but  in  the  j'^ear  of  1876  about  ten  miles  of  railway  were 
constructed  between  Shanghai  and  Woosung,  built  close 
to  the  Hwangpu,  by  a  British  firm.  Its  life  was  very 
short.  That  potent  factor  in  all  things  Chinese,  f^ng- 
shui^  was  affected,  and  this  line,  though  it  was  doing  a 
good  traffic  business,  was  bought  up  by  the  Chinese,  and 
the  rails  were  pulled  up  and  some  engines  smashed  to  ap- 
pease the  votaries  of  this  science  or  geomancy.  The  rails 
and  part  of  the  rolling-stock  ultimately  found  a  resting- 
place  in  the  island  of  Formosa,  where  a  railway  was  later 
constructed  with  the  derelict  and  rusty  material. 

The  Woosung-Shanghai  Railway,  thanks  to  certain  en- 
lightened Chinese  merchants  associated  with  H.  E.  Sheng 
Hung  Pao,  was  reconstructed  and  opened  to  passenger  and 
freight  traffic  in  the  year  1898.  At  first  this  line  went 
from  nowhere  to  nowhere.  It  did  not  come  into  Shanghai, 
as  its  terminus  at  that  end  was  on  the  borders  of  the 
Hongkew,  or  American  concession,  while  the  Woosung  end 
finished  at  the  Woosung  creek;  but  since  the  untoward 
events  of  1900,  after  which  Woosung  was  made  a  treaty 
port  and  the  forts  were  dismantled,  the  rail  head  was 
pushed  across  the  creek  and  on  to  the  forts,  where  at  least 
it  is  of  some  use  to  the  shipping  anchored  at  the  Woosung 
roadstead.  The  traffic  is  now  fair,  but  when  the  connec- 
tion with  Nanking  is  completed  via  Soochow,  Chang- 
chow,  and  Chinkiang,  few  railways  in  the  world  should 
compete  with  this  line  as  a  paying  investment.  The 
British  China  Corporation  have  had  the  concession  for 
this  extension,  as  well  as  that  to  Hangchow,  in  their  hands 
since  the  year  1898,  and  it  was  only  in  the  summer  of 
1904  that  this  corporation  made  any  attempt  at  obtaining 
a  portion  of  the  capital  required  for  construction,  although 
they  are  aware  that  the  earnings  on  the  Shanghai-Soochow 


BAILWAY  TRANSIT  371 

section  would  soon  pay  for  constructing  the  other  con- 
cession. 

In  the  year  1891  ninety-four  miles  of  railway  were  con- 
structed between  Tientsin  and  Kuyeh  by  R.  Kinder,  the 
manager  at  that  time  of  the  famous  Kaiping  coal-mines. 
The  year  following  the  opening  of  this  section  of  the 
Imperial  Chinese  Railway  of  Chili  witnessed  the  transport 
of  over  488,000  passengers  besides  much  goods  traffic.  In 
each  year  following  fully  fifty  miles  per  annum,  and  in 
some  years  over  sixty  miles,  were  constructed,  and  trains 
with  thirty  to  forty  coaches  were  not  an  uncommon  sight, 
the  track  passing  through  very  level  country. 

Until  quite  recently  the  central  government  thought 
very  lightly  of  the  commercial  use  of  railways.  Their 
main  object  in  permitting  their  construction  at  all  was 
to  facilitate  the  transportation  of  troops  and  war  mate- 
rials, as  well  as  to  hasten  the  influx  of  grain  and  other 
tribute  to  the  imperial  exchequer.  That  the  government 
does  not  look  upon  the  imperial  railways  as  a  profitable 
industrial  undertaking  may  be  assumed  from  the  lax 
manner  in  which  it  permits  railway  accounts  to  be  kept, 
without  audit  or  any  other  check  than  that  of  inspection 
by  corrupt  officials,  who  replenish  their  depleted  purses 
out  of  the  railway's  earnings,  and  pass  on. 

In  the  year  1897  the  Tientsin  line  was  opened  to  Feng 
Tai,  about  five  miles  from  the  Chinese  or  outer  city  of 
Peking.  This  line,  during  the  foreign  occupation  of  Chili 
in  1900,  was  advanced  through  a  breach  in  the  city  wall 
near  the  Yungting  gate  to  a  station  in  front  of  the 
"  Temple  of  Heaven."  Under  the  British  Railway  Ad- 
ministration Colonel  MacDonald,  in  1901,  pushed  the  rail- 
way track  round  the  southern  and  eastern  sides  of  the 
"  Temple  of  Heaven,"  past  the  Hatahmen  and  the  historic 
water-gate  of  the  imperial  Tartar  city,  to  the  Chen  Men, 


372  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

thus  bringing  the  extended  legation  area  within  railway- 
touch  of  the  Gulf  of  Pechili. 

In  the  year  1901  the  German  military  authorities  com- 
pleted, with  material  taken  from  the  Imperial  Chinese 
railways,  a  line  from  Peking  to  the  ancient  metropolitan 
river  port  of  Tung  Chow,  on  the  Peiho.  The  Imperial 
Chinese  Railway  in  1894  advanced  to  the  northeast,  past 
the  Great  Wall  at  Shanhaikwan,  and  threw  out  a  branch 
in  1900  to  Chingwangtao,  the  ice-free  port  on  the  Gulf  of 
Pechili.  From  Shanhaikwan  it  extends  still  northeast  to 
Kupangtzu,  passing  the  extensive  Nanpao  fields,  to  which 
a  branch  of  about  thirty  miles  is  laid.  At  Kupangtzu  it 
sends  a  branch  south-southeast  to  Newchwang,  the  treaty 
port  of  Manchuria  on  the  Liao  River,  while  the  main  line 
continues  to  Hsinmintun,  on  the  Peking-Kirin  caravan 
route,  about  thirty-five  miles  west  of  Mukden.  These  lines 
at  Peking,  Newchwang,  and  Hsinmintun,  emanating  from 
the  central  terminus  at  Tangku,  the  port  of  Tientsin,  were 
bonded  in  1898  to  a  body  known  as  the  British  China 
Corporation,  now  affiliated  with  the  Peking  syndicate. 
This  bonding  was  for  the  purpose  of  raising  16,000,000 
taels  with  which  to  complete  the  line  which  in  1896  had 
been  checked  at  the  Tolingho,  twenty  miles  northeast  of 
Kinchow.  Article  II.  of  the  agreement  under  which 
the  money  was  raised  is  most  interesting,  and  reads  : 
"  The  security  for  the  loan  shall  be  the  permanent  way, 
rolling-stock,  and  entire  property,  together  with  the 
freight  and  earnings  of  the  existing  lines  between  Peking, 
Tientsin,  Tangku,  and  Chunghouso,  and  also  the  proposed 
new  lines  when  constructed,  in  addition  to  the  rights  of 
mining  coal  and  iron,  which  will  be  retained  by  the  Rail- 
way Administration  on  each  side  of  the  proposed  new 
lines  for  a  distance  to  be  determined.  In  the  event  of  de- 
fault or  arrears  in  the  payment  of  interest  or  repayment  of 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  373 

principal,  the  said  railway  lines  and  mines  shall  be  handed 
over  to  representatives  deputed  by  the  syndicate  to  manage 
them  on  their  behalf  until  principal  and  interest  on  the 
loan  are  redeemed  in  full,  when  the  management  will 
revert  to  the  Railway  Administration,"  and  "No  further 
loan,  charge,  or  mortgage  shall  be  charged  on  the  security 
named  above  until  this  loan  is  redeemed." 

The  bonds  were  to  bear  five  per  cent  interest,  and  were 
issued  at  90. 

Up  to  the  year  1898,  a  year  when  progressive  ideas 
penetrated  the  walls  of  the  forbidden  city,  railway  enter- 
prise was  a  very  doubtful  undertaking,  and  little  trust 
was  placed  by  native  merchants  in  any  government-owned 
mines,  while  all  parties  in  the  central  government  were 
animated  by  the  prevailing  idea,  that  if  railways  were  to 
be  built,  the  intervention  of  foreign  merchants  and  their 
capital  was  to  be  debarred  at  any  cost.  From  an  inter- 
national point  of  view  the  Railway  Bond  Contract  of  the 
British  China  Corporation  was  a  great  gain  to  the  outer 
world,  as  it  opened  the  closed  door  of  Chinese  railway 
development.  Whether  this  prove  a  permanent  opening 
up  of  the  railroad  potentialities  of  the  Empire,  in  the 
direction  of  concessions  to  alien  powers  and  alien  com- 
panies, remains  to  be  seen ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
Chinese  government  would  have  forwarded  its  own 
interests  more,  had  it  taken  the  bond  contract  with  the 
British  China  Corporation  as  a  basis  on  wliich  to  find  the 
necessary  capital  to  construct  its  trunk-lines,  instead  of 
alienating  wholesale  concessions  to  companies  whose  very 
existence  bore  the  stamp  of  their  political  origin. 

An  idea  of  the  political  significance  to  be  attached  to 
some  European  railway  concessionaries  maybe  obtained 
from  the  following  extract  from  "  Greater  Russia "  by 
Gerrare :  "  With  a  railway  in  existence  from  the  Siberian 


374  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

trunk-line  to  Kalgan,  Russia  will  have  a  foothold  in  the 
Chinese  Empire  from  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  dislodge 
her.  There  seems  little  doubt  but  that  an  advance  south 
is  intended  to  meet  the  northward  advance  of  France  in 
Yunnan  in  order  to  cut  off  British  traders  on  the  Yangtse 
with  the  Chinese  hinterland  to  the  west,  the  ultimate 
market  of  imported  goods  to  Shanghai."  The  better  term 
would  have  been  Anglo-Saxon  traders,  as  American  trade 
is  aimed  at  as  much  as  that  of  Great  Britain.  Thanks, 
however,  to  the  military  political  mission  under  Colonel 
Younghusband,  in  the  advance  on  Lhasa  and  its  capture, 
Great  Britain  has  been  able  to  cry  "  check  "  to  the  Franco- 
Russian  and  Belgian  Railway  mission  for  closed  doors  to 
the  west. 

In  1896  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  agreement  was 
signed  between  Russia  and  China.  This  was  known  to 
the  world  as  the  "  Cassini  Convention."  By  this  conven- 
tion it  was  agreed  that  Russia  should  lease  certain  ports 
in  Manchuria  and  China  and  connect  her  eastern  Siberian 
railway  system  with  these.  This  was  denied,  but  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  year  this  treaty  was  announced  as  a  com- 
mercial undertaking,  without  political  aims,  between  the 
Chinese  government  and  the  Russo- Chinese  Bank ;  and 
on  August  28,  1897,  at  the  frontier  of  Kirin,  the  first 
sod  was  cut  in  what  was  to  be  the  trans-Manchurian  rail- 
way, and  what  proved  to  be  the  excuse  for  Russia  for 
one  of  the  most  cruel  massacres  in  the  pages  of  history, 
the  attempted  seizure  of  one  of  the  richest  tracts  on  the 
earth's  surface,  and  culminated  in  one  of  the  most  san- 
guinary wars  the  world  has  known. 

Then  in  March,  1898,  the  important  section  of  the 
"  Cassini  Convention  "  was  stripped  of  all  shrouding  and 
shown  naked  to  the  world  in  the  Li-Pavloff  treaty  of  Port 
Arthur,  by  which  this  stronghold,  as  well  as  the  port  and 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  376 

harbour  of  TalienwaD,  together  with  the  adjacent  seas,  was 
leased  to  Russia  for  twenty-five  years.  Sanction  was 
given  to  construct  the  central  Manchurian  railway  from 
a  suitable  point  on  the  traus-Manchurian  railway  to  Port 
Arthur.  It  was  distinctly  stated  in  Article  VIII.  of  this 
treaty :  "  The  construction  of  this  line  shall  never,  how- 
ever, be  made  a  ground  for  encroaching  on  the  sovereignty 
or  integrity  of  China."  Never  did  words  mean  less  and 
conceal  more,  as  the  Chinese  were  only  too  soon  to  learn, 
when  the  Boxer  movement  was  engineered  from  a  mere 
rebellion  into  an  anti-foreign  movement,  so  that  Russia 
might  be  given  the  opportunity  of  seizing  as  much  of  the 
Chinese  Empire,  and  of  Manchuria  in  particular,  as  could 
be  secured  without  her  being  called  to  account. 

Port  Arthur  was  occupied  on  March  28,  1898,  and  in 
May  of  the  same  year  work  started  three  miles  up  the 
Liao  Ho  from  Newchwang  to  run  a  branch  line  to  Tashih- 
chao  (Great  Stone  Bridge),  seventeen  miles  distant,  and 
on  its  completion,  the  following  year,  constructive  work 
on  the  main  line  both  toward  the  north  and  the  south  was 
started.  About  the  same  time  construction  was  slowly 
but  surely  creeping  forward  from  the  south,  until  a  con- 
struction train  was  able  to  pass  direct  between  Newchwang 
and  Talienwan  over  a  line  as  3''et  roughly  laid.  By  the 
spring  of  1900  the  road  had  been  so  far  laid  that  pas- 
sengers who  did  not  mind  roughing  it  in  ill-constructed 
cars,  little  better  than  cattle  wagons,  could  make  the  jour- 
ney from  Tiehling  (forty  miles  north  of  Mukden)  to  New- 
chwang (over  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles)  or  Port  Arthur 
and  Talienwan  (about  three  hundred  miles).  Early  in  the 
year  1898  a  few  scattered  houses,  a  grain  store,  and  a  dis- 
tillery marked  a  certain  spot  on  the  Manchurian  plain 
in  the  valley  of  the  Sungari,  about  ten  miles  to  the  east 
of  the  old  caravan  rest  and  inn  of  Hulantien.     Then  a 


376  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

memorable  day  arrived  for  that  lonely  spot  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  versts  north  of  Port  Arthur.  In  the  cold,  bleak 
dawn  of  the  early  spring  morning  a  steamer  came  along- 
side the  eastern  bank  of  the  Sungari  and  commenced  dis- 
charging its  load  of  human  freight  and  railway  material. 
The  human  cargo  consisted  of  Russian  engineers,  sur- 
veyors, clerks,  military  guards,  etc.  There  was  very  little 
delay  in  cutting  down  and  conveying  timber  and  erecting 
log  dwellings  for  these  railway  pioneers  and  forerunners 
of  Russian  military  aggrandizement.  The  surveyors 
started  at  their  particular  work  of  deciding  upon  the 
lines  to  be  taken  by  the  trans-Manchurian  and  central 
Manchurian  railways.  Meanwhile  the  engineers  were 
busy  laying  out  the  plans  for  a  great  settlement,  after 
the  style  of  the  western  city  in  the  United  States,  with 
broad  streets  on  the  block  system.  As  house  after  house 
sprang  up  from  the  ground  with  mushroom  rapidity,  there 
were  always  new  people  to  occupy  them.  These  arrived 
as  fast  as  steamers  could  navigate  the  Sungari,  all  bent  on 
the  same  object  of  pushing  forward  the  Manchurian  rail- 
ways. In  two  years  the  lonely  spot  was  echoing  with  the 
hum  of  the  steam  saw,  the  burr  of  the  flour-mill,  the 
clanking  of  iron  and  steel.  There  was  a  town,  Harbin 
,(Ha-ehr-bin),  boasting  several  thousand  inhabitants.  In 
1900  Dr.  Morrison  estimated  the  population  as  over  80,000. 
However  much  one  may  object  to  Russian  policy  and  Rus- 
sian corruption,  no  one  who  has  seen  anything  of  the  con- 
structive work  of  the  Russians  in  Manchuria  can  long 
withhold  his  admiration  for  their  fixity  of  purpose  and 
the  tenacity  with  which  they  overcome  difficulties  and  the 
thorough  belief  they  have  in  themselves  as  the  instru- 
ments of  Providence  in  spreading  their  civilization  in  the 
regions  in  which  they  gain  a  footing. 

For  rapidity  of  growth  the  great  railway  junction  town 


RAILWAY   TRANSITS  377 

of  Harbin  excels  Johannesburg,  although  its  foundations 
are  not  made  of  gold,  as  in  the  case  of  the  city  of  the 
Rand. 

By  the  end  of  1902  Harbin  was,  in  the  mind  of  the 
mere  traveller,  only  one  of  many  stations  on  the  through 
run  from  Port  Arthur,  Talienwan,  or  Newchwang  to 
St.  Petersburg,  or  even  Berlin  and  Paris,  but  to  Rus- 
sians it  meant  a  great  deal  more.  The  flash  of  pride 
which  came  in  the  eyes  of  Viceroy  Alexeieff,  as  he  looked 
upon  the  nucleus  of  a  new  St.  Petersburg  of  a  Greater 
Russia  in  the  Orient,  was  reflected  by  all  around  him,  from 
railway  guard,  frontier  guard,  and  Cossack  to  the  highest 
officers,  both  civil  and  military. 

Though  built  essentially  as  political  and  military  under- 
takings, the  Manchurian  railways,  or  Chinese  Eastern 
railways,  as  they  are  officially  called,  must  have  a  benefi- 
cent effect  on  Manchurian  trade  generally,  as  that  country 
is  more  and  more  opened  to  foreign  and  Chinese  settle- 
ment. 

The  Chinese  Eastern  railways  are  built  to  the  Russian 
or  broad  gauge,  while  the  Chinese  railways  of  Manchuria, 
or  Imperial  Chinese  railways,  are  built  to  the  British  or 
standard  gauge,  so  that  even  did  the  Liao  Ho  not  inter- 
vene, or  were  it  bridged  over,  there  could  be  no  system  of 
through-running  trains.  In  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1904  the  railways  of  Manchuria,  both  those  of  English 
and  those  of  Russian  origin,  would  compare  in  construc- 
tion with  any  lines  in  the  world.  They  were  splendidly 
ballasted  and  systematically  operated.  Most  expensive 
bridging  is  a  feature  of  the  Chinese  Eastern  railways,  as 
it  is  of  the  trans-Siberian  line.  The  quality  and  number 
of  the  bridges  may  account  in  part  for  the  heavy  cost  per 
mile  of  these  railways  as  compared  with  those  of  the 
Imperial   Chinese   railways.     Since   February,  1904,  the 


378  CHI^^A   IN   LAW   AND   COMMEECE 

Russians  have  completed  the  branch  line  from  Chang- 
chunfu  (one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  north  of  Muk- 
den) to  the  great  trade  town,  ninety  miles  distant,  called 
Kirin,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name.  Ten 
miles  north  of  Liaoyang  (on  the  Taitzuho),  there  is  the 
station  of  Yentai,  from  which  a  branch  railway  runs  east 
for  over  twelve  miles  to  the  hard-coal  mines  of  Ma  Shih 
Shan. 

The  branch  to  Kirin,  though  built  by  the  Russian  mili- 
tary authorities  for  strategic  purposes,  should  prove,  in 
times  of  peace,  a  paying  adjunct  to  the  trunk  system,  as  it 
runs  through  a  well-populated  area  to  which  considerable 
trade  in  native  and  foreign  products  is  carried  overland  by 
carts  and  camels,  at  rates  varying  from  1  to  Sd.  per  ton 
mile,  or  5  to  15  cents  (Mexican).  As  the  railways  of 
China  seldom  rise  higher  in  freightage  than  Ic?.,  or  less 
than  5  cents  per  ton  mile,  this  line,  working  on  a  similar 
scale,  should  attract  considerable  traffic.  Near  Kirin  are 
large  deposits  of  coal,  which  are  worked  in  a  primitive 
fashion.  The  output  commands  in  the  capital  6  to  10s., 
or  $3  to  $0  (Mexican)  per  ton  at  retail.  Several  of  the 
mines  lie  along  the  ninety  miles  of  railway,  and  to  the 
north  of  the  city  and  east  of  the  Sungari.  Iron  and  gold 
(in  quantity)  are  found  to  the  east  and  southeast  of  Kirin 
city,  and  these  will  prove  at  a  future  date  valuable 
freights  for  the  highly  important  branch,  as  will  also  the 
timber  from  the  forests  to  the  east  and  south. 

Though  the  Vladivostock-Harbarovsk  Railway  is  not 
actually  a  part  of  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  system,  it 
has  such  an  effect  on  the  trade  of  eastern  Manchuria  that 
it  may  be  considered  in  a  description  of  Manchurian  land 
routes.  Work  on  this  iron  road  was  commenced  May  31, 
1891,  when  the  first  sod  was  turned  by  the  present  Czar 
(then  the  heir  apparent),  and  it  took  four  years  and  nine 


RAILWAY   TRANSIT  379 

months  to  complete  about  four  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
of  track  at  a  cost  for  permanent  way  and  rolling-stock 
of  over  £8000  per  mile.  Traffic  commenced  on  Febru- 
ary 13, 1896.  At  the  town  of  Nikolsk,  nearly  one  hundred 
miles  north  of  Vladivostock,  this  railway,  which  is  called 
the  Ussuri  line,  joins  that  of  the  trans-Manchurian  system. 
It  is  an  imposing  and  important  town.  From  Nikolsk  the 
Ussuri  line  runs  due  north  through  densely  wooded  coun- 
try, full  of  large  and  small  game,  reported  as  being  a  richly 
metalliferous  belt,  and,  passing  between  fifteen  and  thirty 
miles  to  the  east  of  Lake  Hinka,  gradually  drops  into  the 
valley  of  the  Ussuri  to  the  east  bank  of  which  it  crosses 
between  Lutkovskaia  and  the  station  of  Ussuri.  The 
bridging  along  this  route  is  a  standing  testimonial  to 
Russian  railway-engineering  skill,  particularly  the  three- 
span  bridge,  seven  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  crossing 
the  Ussuri  at  the  above-named  point,  and  the  iron  girder 
structure  of  two  spans,  measuring  five  hundred  and  sixty 
feet  over  the  Bikin  River,  two  and  a  half  miles  to  the  south 
of  Bekin  River.  This  portion  of  the  track  runs  through 
country  alternating  between  hill  and  valley,  the  latter 
liable  to  floods.  The  hills  are  densely  covered  with  oak, 
birch,  pine,  ash,  and  elm,  and  are  traversed  by  picturesque 
rivers,  streams,  and  hill  cascades.  Considerable  beds  of 
coal  and  iron,  as  well  as  alluvial  deposits  of  gold,  lie  to 
the  west  of  this  river  and  railway,  but  practically  nothing 
has  been  done  to  develop  them.  The  two  tributaries  of 
the  Ussuri,  the  Khor  and  Kiya,  which,  coming  from  the 
east,  join  the  river  about  seventy-five  miles  south  of 
Harbarovsk,  had  to  be  bridged,  the  latter  requiring  a 
structure  of  four  spans,  eight  hundred  and  forty  feet  in 
total  length.  There  were  practically  no  engineering 
difficulties  between  this  point  and  Harbarovsk.  The 
station  of   Krasnaia-Retchka,  about  sixteen  miles  south 


380  CHINA   IN  LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

of  Harbarovsk,  is  a  junction  for  a  short  line  of  six  miles 
running  to  the  banks  of  the  Ussuri,  which  is  naviga- 
ble for  steamer  traffic  to  the  junction  of  the  Iman  River, 
and  on  these  two  rivers  steamer  freightage  is  cheaper  than 
rail  transit.  The  cost  of  the  latter  is  exorbitant.  Trains 
travel  over  this  line  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty-four 
miles  an  hour,  exclusive  of  stops,  which,  however,  num- 
ber about  thirty  stations  and  nearly  as  many  wayside  sid- 
ings, where  trains  pull  up  for  intervals  far  too  long.  The 
journey  thus  takes  little  less  than  two  days.  The  rolling- 
stock  is  abundant,  the  trains  are  heavy  with  goods  and 
passengers,  and  everything  connected  with  the  railway 
suggests  a  profitable  enterprise  with  a  great  future  under 
normal  conditions. 

I  have  now  given  a  description  of  the  existing  railways 
to  the  north  which  belong  to,  or  have  a  direct  or  indirect 
bearing  upon,  the  Chinese  Imperial  Railway.  And  now, 
starting  with  Peking,  1  will  trace  the  iron  road  southward. 
In  the  minds  of  the  Chinese  the  most  important  railway 
work  in  China  is  the  construction  of  a  line  to  link  the 
capital  of  the  Empire  with  Hankow,  and  the  history  of 
this  line  is  of  the  gravest  interest  to  all  Anglo-Saxons 
having  commercial  interests  in  China.  It  was  originally 
intended  that  this  line  should  form  one  of  the  great  trunks 
of  the  Imperial  Chinese  Railway  system,  but  in  the  year 
1897  a  wealthy  Belgian  syndicate  secured  the  franchise  to 
construct  the  line,  although  a  powerful  Anglo-American 
syndicate  was  in  the  field  seeking  a  concession.  However, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  diplomatic  representative  of 
France  in  Peking  working  for  the  Belgians  as  against 
Anglo-American  commercial  interests,  the  right  to  con- 
struct the  line  was  secured  by  a  nominally  commercial 
Belgian  syndicate,  as  above  stated,  in  1897.  The  nomi- 
nally Belgian  syndicate  is  in  reality  a  Franco-Russo-Belgian 


BAILWAY   TRANSIT  381 

political  group  endeavouring  by  every  possible  means  to 
cut  off  British  and  American  trade  from  the  centre  and 
southwest  of  China.  The  British  and  American  ministers 
protested  against  the  betrayal  of  their  national  interests, 
but  their  protest  was  disregarded  by  Chinese  officialdom 
engineered  by  continental  diplomacy  in  Peking.  On  the 
other  hand  the  Russian  protest  against  the  bonding  of 
the  Newchwang  and  Hsinmintun  sections  of  the  Pechili 
railway  to  the  British  China  Corporation  was  again  suc- 
cessfully engineered  by  continental  diplomacy. 

I  do  not  for  a  moment  wish  to  reflect  upon  diplomatic 
servants  of  the  continental  powers,  but  wish  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  those  familiar  with  Orientals  can  better  un- 
derstand the  workings  of  Oriental  minds  and  the  best  way 
to  obtain  what  they  desire  from  Orientals.  If  Great  Britain 
and  America  wish  to  be  successful  in  the  rush  for  China 
markets,  their  ministers  in  Peking  should  be  trained  in 
things  Chinese. 

To  return  from  this  digression  to  the  Peking-Hankow 
(Peihan)  Railway.  This  association  of  Franco-Russo- 
Belgian  financiers  has  in  its  contract  secured  the  full 
right  of  mortgage,  alienation,  and  foreclosure  of  a  line 
penetrating  into  the  heart  of  the  alleged  British  sphere 
of  influence,  the  Yangtse  valley.  It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  the  politico-commercial  Russo-Chinese  Bank,  in  which 
the  Russian  central  government  is  deeply  interested,  has 
always  been  at  the  back  of  the  Belgian  syndicate,  that 
bantling  corporation  controlled  by  the  financier  king  of 
the  Belgians.  This  monarch  and  the  Belgian  corporation 
have  all  along  been  accused  of  being  under  the  guidance 
of  Russia.  When  this  fact  is  known,  it  gives  point  to  the 
remarks  previously  quoted  from  "Greater  Russia  "  by  Ger- 
rare.  In  the  year  1899  the  governments  of  Great  Britain 
and  Russia,  "animated  b}''  a  sincere  desire  to  avoid  in 


382  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND   COMMEECE 

China  all  cause  of  conflict  on  questions  where  their  inter- 
ests meet,  and  taking  into  consideration  the  economic  and 
geographical  gravitation  of  certain  parts  of  the  Empire," 
agreed  (1)  that  "  Great  Britain  engages  not  to  seek  for 
her  own  account,  or  on  behalf  of  British  subjects,  or  of 
others,  any  railway  concessions  to  the  north  of  the  Great 
Wall  of  China,  and  not  to  obstruct  directly  or  indirectly 
applications  for  railway  concessions  in  that  region  sup- 
ported by  the  Russian  government."    • 

(2)  "  Russia  on  her  part  engages  not  to  seek  for  her 
own  account  or  on  behalf  of  Russian  subjects,  or  others, 
any  railway  concession  in  the  basin  of  the  Yangtse  and 
not  to  obstruct  directly  or  indirectly  applications  for 
railway  concessions  in  that  region  supported  by  the 
British  government." 

Both  the  British  minister  and  the"  British  government 
at  home  have  consistently  adhered  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  1899  convention.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Russian  minister,  Russian  political  agents,  and  the  Russian 
government  at  home  have  as  consistently  overridden  the 
convention  in  word  and  spirit,  and  nowhere  more  flagrantly 
than  in  securing  for  the  Russo-Chinese  Bank  a  controlling 
voice  in  the  finances  and  management  of  the  Peihan 
(Luhan)  Railway  between  Peking  and  Hankow. 

Mr.  Kinder,  engineer-in-chief  of  the  Imperial  Chinese 
Railway,  undertook  the  construction  of  the  line  from 
Fengtai,  the  station  on  the  imperial  system  distant  from 
the  imperial  capital  only  five  miles.  Under  his  supervision 
the  work  was  carried  out  at  a  cost  of  about  £6000  or 
gold  $30,000  per  mile,  and  was  in  full  running  order  for 
the  eighty-eight  miles  to  Paotingf  u  early  in  October,  1899, 
under  the  Imperial  Chinese  Railway  Administration.  At 
this  time  a  further  ten  miles  had  been  constructed  from 
Liukouchao  on  the  Liulikou  to  Choukoutien  and  handed 


KAILWAY   TRANSIT  383 

over  to  the  Belgian  syndicate,  "  Compagnie  de  Chemins 
de  Fer  Chinois."  In  March,  1899,  previous  anticipations 
of  the  inability  of  this  Belgian  syndicate  to  complete  the 
line  to  Hankow  were  only  too  amply  justified.  Although 
the  Anglo-American  syndicate  held  a  right  of  reversion  in 
case  of  the  failure  of  the  Belgian  group  to  construct  the 
line  themselves,  the  aforementioned  Franco- Russo- Belgian 
syndicate,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Societe  d'Etudes  de 
Chemins  de  Fer  en  Chine,"  secured  de  facto  the  full  con- 
trol of  construction  and  working  of  the  Luhan  Railway 
by  giving  a  loan  of  <£ 4,500,000,  the  money  to  be  returned 
by  the  Chinese  government  in  annual  instalments  for 
twenty  years  from  the  date  of  the  first  instalment  in  1909. 
The  loan  was  issued  on  April  12, 1899,  and  was  subscribed 
five  times  over. 

The  French  and  Belgian  surveyors  got  rapidly  to  work 
from  both  the  Paoting  and  the  Hankow  ends  of  the  line, 
and,  thanks  to  their  efforts,  the  world  is  in  possession  of 
detailed  maps  of  great  value  of  the  country  along  the  line 
of  the  railway.  They  indicate  the  great  trade  towns,  with 
an  index  of  the  populations  and  the  possible  transit  trade 
to  be  derived  from  these ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able points  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  rail- 
way. They  also  indicate  the  extent  and  class  of  minerals 
in  the  surrounding  country. 

The  French  and  Belgian  officials  in  one  respect  showed 
their  capacity  for  such  work.  They  employed  as  far  as 
possible  local  labour  in  the  various  districts  traversed  by 
the  road,  with  the  result  that  the  construction  of  the 
embankment  was  very  rapid. 

In  September,  1901,  the  permanent  bed  of  rails  had 
crossed  the  Hupeh  and  Honan  borders  from  the  south; 
that  is  to  say,  the  embankment  had  been  pushed  from  the 
south  for  one  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  northward  and 


384  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

rails  laid  for  more  than  seventy-five  per  cent  of  this  dis- 
tance. As  quickly  as  possible  each  section  was  opened, 
and  trains  were  running  by  the  end  of  the  year  over 
ninety-one  miles  of  the  route.  Farther  north  the  bridge 
construction  was  only  started,  and  trains  ran  over  tem- 
porary wooden  erections.  Serious  riots  in  Hupeh,  Honan, 
and  Chili  during  the  month  of  May,  1900,  had  driven  the 
railway  engineers  from  the  outlying  districts  into  concen- 
tration camps.  The  riots  continued  throughout  the  month, 
and  took  a  "  Boxer  "  tone  in  June,  in  which  month  the 
Lukouchou  station  was  burned,  and  later  the  same  fate 
befell  the  stations  at  Fengtai.  The  disturbed  condition 
of  the  country  throughout  1900  prevented  any  railway 
work  being  carried  on  in  the  interior. 

During  the  absence  of  the  legitimate'  government  from 
Peking  and  the  period  of  foreign  military  occupation,  the 
Luhan  directors  came  to  an  understanding  with  the 
British  Railway  Administration  that  both  bodies  should 
transfer  their  termini  from  Fengtai  to  the  Chen  Men  of 
the  Tartar  or  inner  city  of  Peking.  By  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1904  the  railway  was  open  as  far  south  as  Kilisien 
and  as  far  north  from  Hankow  as  Siu  Chenhsien.  By 
July  work  was  pushed  as  far  south  as  Weihuifu  and  north 
to  Cheng  Chow.  It  cuts  through  important  mining  areas 
and  taps  wealthy  markets,  so  that  from  a  commercial  point 
of  view  the  linking  of  this  line  over  the  great  Hwang-ho 
bridge  will  be  an  event  of  international  importance. 

The  fares  and  freight  charges  on  this  line  are  somewhat 
heavier  than  those  on  the  Imperial  Chinese  railways  of 
north  China,  but  at  the  same  time  are  very  low  in  com- 
parison with  those  obtaining  on  foreign  roads. 

In  the  year  1898  an  Anglo-Italian  syndicate,  subse- 
quently known  as  the  Peking  syndicate,  secured  extensive 
mining,  railway,  and  industrial  rights  in  Shansi,  Shensi, 


RAILWAY   TRANSIT  385 

and  north  Honan.  The  following  year  saw  the  railway 
surveyors  and  mining  prospectors  of  this  syndicate  spread 
all  over  the  area  named,  where  they  continued  their 
labours  until  the  events  of  1900  drove  them  to  safety  in 
the  treaty,  ports.  By  this  time,  however,  they  had  suffi- 
cient data  to  go  upon,  and  one  of  their  many  railway 
projects  was  mapped  out.  This  done,  and  the  country 
somewhat  quieted,  the  pioneers  returned  to  their  posts, 
and  through  the  Chinese  party  in  the  syndicate  proceeded 
to  purchase  land  necessary  for  the  line.  Actual  construc- 
tion was  started  in  1902,  and  by  the  beginning  of  1904 
the  iron  road  was  opened  from  Taokow  (Head  Gully)  on 
the  Wei  River  to  Pa  Shan,  near  Chunghua,  a  distance  of 
about  eighty-seven  miles,  cutting  the  Peking-Hankow 
route  at  right  angles.  When  first  opened,  the  line  car- 
ried only  employees  of  the  syndicate's  mines  and  rail- 
ways, but  the  new  mode  of  conveyance  attracted  the 
attention  of  natives  rich  and  poor.  These  were  carried 
at  merely  nominal  rates,  and  the  line  became  the  most 
popular  mode  of  conveyance  for  both  goods  and  passen- 
gers. The  freight  for  goods  was  4^  cents,  or  less  than 
Ic?.,  per  ton  mile,  and  for  passengers  in  the  roughest  of 
third-class  trucks  about  ^  cent  per  mile.  Owing  to  the 
amount  of  traffic,  these  rates  were  exceedingly  remunera- 
tive. It  is,  however,  intended  to  have  final  rates  some- 
what between  those  of  the  Imperial  Chinese  railways  of 
north  China  and  those  of  the  Luhan  line. 

In  March,  1904,  negotiations  were  opened  between  the 
Peking  syndicate  and  the  administrative  bureau  of  the 
Chinese  Imperial  railways  with  the  object  of  the  latter 
taking  over  the  traffic  management  of  the  line  and  leaving 
the  syndicate  at. liberty  to  extend  the  line  north  and  west 
from  Chunghua.  Pending  the  decision  work  on  exten- 
sions was  temporarily  suspended.  For  all  parties  con- 
2o 


886  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

cerned  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  state  will  be  induced  to 
take  up  the  direct  administration  of  the  various  railway 
systems  as  completed,  giving  the  constructing  companies 
such  compensation  as  will  tend  to  the  extension  of  their 
work  as  railway  builders.  In  this  manner  the  Chinese 
would  have  the  unhampered  control  of  such  lines  in  case 
of  military  mobilization. 

With  the  working  of  the  Shansi  and  Honan  hard  coal, 
as  well  as  of  the  iron  and  oil  of  Shansi  and  Shensi,  the 
value  of  this  railway  will  be  second  to  none  in  America 
or  England.  As  an  example  of  the  transportation  value 
of  this  railway  it  would  be  almost  sufficient  to  say  that  in 
the  year  1898  China  imported  730,606  tons  of  coal,  and 
that  this  importation  is  on  the  increase,  while  in  the 
province  of  Shansi  there  are  13,000  square  miles  of  coal- 
fields with  seams  of  anthracite  from  eight  to  forty  feet 
thick,  together  with  an  almost  equally  extensive  bitumi- 
nous coal  area.  The  syndicate  which  constructed  the 
railway  just  mentioned  holds  the  proprietary  mining  rights 
in  these  two  vast  fields.  Pennsylvania  in  all  her  glory 
does  not  hold  out  such  opportunities  for  mining  and 
railway  enterprise  as  does  the  region  of  this  line. 

The  embankment  is  partially  constructed  and  the  per- 
manent way  prepared  on  the  road  to  Huai  Ching,  and 
ultimately  this  line  will  be  extended  southwest  to  Honanf  u, 
where  it  will  join  the  same  company's  projected  line,  in 
conjunction  with  the  British  China  Corporation,  to 
Kaifeng  and  Tsao  Chow,  where  it  will  join  the  German 
Shantung  system. 

The  student  of  Oriental  history  will  recall  that  in  the 
year  1897  an  Anglo-Saxon  missionary,  Mr.  Brooks,  was 
murdered,  but  beyond  demanding  the  adequate  punish- 
ment of  the  culprits  and  the  officials  responsible,  Great 
Britain   made   no   move.     It  was,  however,  different   in 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  387 

November  of  that  year  when,  by  the  murder  of  two  Ger- 
man missionaries,  Teutonic  pride  was  wounded  in  its 
imperial  dignity.  The  punishment  of  the  murderers  and 
local  officials  was  not  sufficient.  The  vigorous  mailed  fist 
was  ready  to  grasp  wherever  there  was  little  chance  of 
receiving  a  counter  blow  from  the  country  attacked. 
The  pride  of  Germany  could  only  be  satisfied  with  the 
cession  of  Kiao  Chow  and  the  surrounding  land  and 
water,  of  which  she  took  forcible  possession  from  a 
country  with  which  she  was  at  peace.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  new  diplomacy  of  the  "mailed  fist" 
toward  China.  China,  or  rather  the  Manchu  govern- 
ment, was  too  invertebrate  to  resist,  and  Germany  was 
permitted  to  retain  the  key  to  the  exploitation  of  Shan- 
tung, the  provincial  home  of  Confucius,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  37,000,000.  In  spite  of  the  great  population  the 
province  is  relatively  poor,  although  inherently  rich  in 
unworked  coal,  iron,  asbestos,  lead,  silver,  gold,  rubies, 
diamonds,  graphite,  tin,  zinc,  talc,  and  some  of  the  rare 
earths. 

In  the  great  rush  for  railway  concessions  Germany 
secured  the  sole  right  of  railway  construction  in  Shan- 
tung. In  this  province,  she  gave  the  European  powers  to 
understand  she  had  marked  off  a  special  sphere  of  influ- 
ence, although  in  no  whit  reducing  her  claims  to  favoured- 
nation  treatment  elsewhere  in  the  Empire.  It  was  not  till 
the  spring  of  1899  that  the  German  Shantung  Railway 
syndicate  was  able  to  secure  the  necessary  capital  to  com- 
mence railway  construction.  The  first  sod  was  turned  for 
the  first  section  between  Kiao  Chow  (Tapaduhr)  and  Wei- 
hsien  (on  the  Wei  River)  on  June  2,  1899,  with  the  cus- 
tomary German  ceremony.  Then,  after  time  for  official 
congratulations  to  subside,  the  construction  of  the  line  was 
seriously  taken  in  hand.     Ballasting  material  was  by  no 


388  CHINA  IN   LAW   AND  COMMERCE 

means  deficient,  but  all  the  material  for  rails  and  sleepers 
had  to  be  imported,  as  Shantung  has  been  depleted  of  all 
timber  useful  for  such  purposes. 

In  June,  1899,  tenders  were  invited  from  native  con- 
tractors for  the  construction  of  seventy-five  kilometers  of 
embankment  between  Tsingtao  and  Kaomi,  and  this  looked 
like  business,  but  on  the  eighteenth  of  the  same  month  a 
riot  took  place  in  which  the  sheds  and  works  of  the  Kaomi 
district  were  destroyed.  These  riots  can  be  attributed  to 
lack  of  tact  on  the  part  of  the  railway  authorities.  Riots 
were  repeated  in  February,  1900,  on  a  large  scale.  Mean- 
while there  had  been  several  minor  disturbances.  Investi- 
gation proved  that  the  people  were  moved  by  the  following 
considerations :  — 

(1)  They  preferred  to  have  no  railway  in  the  sacred 
province  of  Confucius. 

(2)  If  the  railway  must  be  built,  they  desired  local 
interests  to  be  considered,  and  the  work  done  with  the 
minimum  of  damage  to  crops  and  farms. 

(3)  They  desired  the  employment  of  local  labour  on 
works  in  a  province  where  such  work  would  be  a  con- 
sideration to  a  poor  and  large  population. 

(4)  They  protested  against  the  importation  of  the  low- 
class  Tientsin  coolie,  when  Shantung  could  supply  any 
number  from  its  30,000,000  inhabitants. 

(5)  They  demanded  that  ample  provision  be  made  for 
the  drainage  of  the  reclaimed  lowlands  through  which  the 
railway  was  being  constructed. 

That  a  riot  should  result  from  the  culpable  neglect  of 
Europeans  to  anticipate  and  make  provision  for  meeting 
amicably  such  justifiable  demands  shows  the  intolerable 
ignorance  of  those  who  seek  to  carry  out  industrial  enter- 
prises in  China. 

The  natives  received  no   compensation   from   damage 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  389 

resulting  from  items  2,  3,  4,  and  5,  and  the  riots  only 
quieted  down  in  February,  1900.  Meanwhile,  regrettable 
loss  of  life  and  injuries  had  occurred  on  both  sides,  and 
compensation  was  made  for  the  German  losses  in  April, 
1900,  but  the  Chinese  got  nothing.  Asa  result  of  further 
injustice  and  regrettable  incidents  rioting  again  broke  out 
in  April  near  Kaomi,  but  was  quickly  put  down,  and  work 
was  pushed  ahead  until  June,  when  warnings  of  the  coming 
Boxer  storm  made  it  necessary  for  engineers  to  gain  the 
safety  of  the  harbour  precincts.  In  October,  1900,  work 
was  again  resumed,  and  construction  trains  began  to  run 
by  the  end  of  the  month  to  Kiao  Chow.  The  permanent 
way  was  built,  but  not  ballasted,  to  near  Kaomi  by  the 
end  of  the  year.  So  rapid  was  the  progress  made  on  this 
section  that  on  March  9,  1901,  a  formal  opening  of  the 
Shantung  railway  between  Tsingtao  and  Kiao  Chow,  a  dis- 
tance of  forty-seven  miles  of  excellent  road,  took  place  in 
the  presence  of  the  governor  of  Shantung  and  many  other 
Chinese  dignitaries.  June  of  the  same  year  saw  the  rail 
head  pushed  to  Kaomi,  seventeen  miles  distant  from 
Kiao  Chow.  Thereafter  work  became  more  difficult  and 
bridging  a  considerable  item  in  the  cost.  By  the  begin- 
ning of  1902  the  section  to  Weihsien,  which  presented 
many  engineering  difficulties,  was  completed  and  opened 
with  great  ceremony.  The  bridging  of  the  Weiho  is  a 
credit  to  German  engineering,  as  the  river-bed  is  broad 
and  flat,  very  shallow  in  the  winter,  but  a  regular  torrent 
in  the  summer,  and  this  caused  many  of  the  temporary 
structures  to  be  carried  away.  Weihsien,  one  of  the  most 
important  market-towns  in  the  province,  is  in  the  midst 
of  an  extensive  and  rich  mineral  belt  running  northeast 
and  southwest.  The  section  to  Changshan  was  opened  a 
year  later,  and  from  here  construction  proceeded  at  a  great 
rate  in  spite  of  much  cutting  and  bridging. 


390  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Changshan  is  the  junction  from  which  runs  the  Poshan 
branch  of  the  road,  to  tap  the  coal-fields  in  the  valley  of 
that  name,  where  there  are  thirteen  large  native  coal-mines 
and  one  operated  on  an  extensive  scale  by  a  German  com- 
pany. The  coal  from  this  district  is  at  present  being  used 
on  the  railway,  but  with  increased  production  it  must 
necessarily  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  future  of 
the  German  port  of  Tsingtau. 

On  May  15,  1904,  the  first  train  from  Tsingtau  ran  into 
the  station  at  Chinanfu,  the  capital  of  the  province  of 
Shantung.  The  length  of  the  main  line  and  branches 
opened  on  this  date  approximates  three  hundred  miles. 

The  railway  from  Canton  to  Fatshan  and  thence  to 
Samshui  is  part  of  the  Hankow-Canton  trunk-line,  the 
franchise  for  which  was  given  to  an  Anglo-American 
syndicate  as  far  back  as  1898.  Soon  the  British  element 
dropped  out,  and  the  undertaking  became  solely  one  for 
American  enterprise,  but  the  British  minister  continued 
on  all  occasions  to  support  the  aspirations  of  the  Ameri- 
can concessionaries. 

In  the  year  1900,  just  before  the  Boxer  outbreak,  the 
Belgian  syndicate  opened  negotiations  with  the  American 
syndicate  for  the  purpose  of  jointly  constructing  the 
trunk-line  from  Hankow  to  Canton,  as  the  Americans 
alleged  they  found  great  difficulty  in  raising  the  money 
in  New  York  and  London.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
the  beginning  of  1904  that  certain  resignations  from  the 
board,  and  the  filling  of  these  vacancies  by,  nominees 
of  the  king  of  the  Belgians,  made  the  general  public 
aware  of  the  fact  that  an  American-Belgian  deal  had 
been  accomplished.  Work  on  the  line  from  south  to 
north  has  not  yet  got  beyond  the  stage  where  W.  Barclay 
Parsons  left  it  in  1899,  namely,  the  preliminary  survey. 
But  the  first  section  of  the  Canton-Samshui  branch  was 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  391 

opened  to  traffic  on  November  15,  1903,  and  immediately 
there  were  more  demands  for  tickets  than  the  rolling-stock, 
then  limited,  could  accommodate.  This  is  a  distinct  con- 
firmation of  the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Parsons  to  his 
employers :  "  Between  Samshui  and  Canton,  however, 
there  is  a  country  in  which  railway  operation  would  pay 
handsomely."  The  opening  on  June  1,  1904,  of  the  full 
length  of  line  of  twenty-eight  miles  between  Canton  and 
Samshui  was  followed  by  traffic  receipts  which  far  ex- 
ceeded the  promoters'  anticipations.  These  receipts  daily 
increase  with  the  extension  of  the  line.  Besides  Fatshan 
with  its  750,000  inhabitants  and  flourishing  trade,  in  ex- 
cess even  of  that  of  Canton,  the  railway  passes  many 
prosperous  towns  hitherto  somewhat  crippled  for  want 
of  rapid  transit.  The  chief  of  these  is  Hsinam,  with  a 
population  a  little  under  10,000,  and  only  less  as  a  manu- 
facturing centre  than  Fatshan.  Canton  possesses,  in  a 
population  of  over  1,000,000,  many  men  who  can  reckon 
their  wealth  in  seven  figures,  while  Samshui,  since  it  be- 
came a  treaty  port,  has  grown  in  trade  and  importance 
and  is  aided  in  this  by  the  advantage  of  its  position  at 
the  junction  of  the  West  and  North  rivers. 

The  start  made  on  this  line  has  been  so  encouraging  in 
its  results  that  the  work  on  the  main  line  is  now  being 
prosecuted. 

The  line  as  surveyed,  starting  at  Samshui  in  its  journey 
through  Kwangtung,  passes  the  following  rich  industrial 
or  market-towns:  Tsing-yuan,  Yingte,.then  west  of  the 
prefectural  town  Shaochaofu,  Laochang,  Pingshi,  and 
Yichang  on  the  Hunan- Kwangtung  frontier.  Across 
the  border  of  Hunan  it  must  make  its  way  over  the 
Cheling  range,  over  one  thousand  feet  above  sea-level, 
through  a  pass  -at  an  altitude  of  less  than  eight  hundred 
feet,  then   over   the   anthracite   coal-bed  lying   between 


392  CHINA   IN   LAW   AND   COMMERCE 

Chen  Chow  and  Hingningyuen  to  Yanghsing,  then  to 
Liying  and  Hengchau,  near  each  of  which  towns  there 
are  extensive  deposits  of  coal,  iron,  and  copper.  At 
Hengchau  the  railway  route  as  far  as  Changshafu,  the 
capital,  follows  the  valley  of  the  Siang  River  (which  re- 
minds one  of  the  v/inding  picturesqueness  of  the  Lehigh 
Valley  Railroad).  From  Changsha  to  Yochow  (40,000) 
the  railway  has  on  the  one  side  the  Siang  River  and  then 
the  shores  of  the  Tungting  Lake,  and  on  the  other  moun- 
tains stained  by  the  various  minerals  with  which  they 
abound.  From  Yochow  the  line  breaks  northeast  to  Pu 
Chi,  a  thriving  native  town,  and  then  by  way  of  Lui 
Chikow  to  Wuchang.  Throughout  the  whole  journey 
in  Hunan  the  route  lies  along  a  line  of  mineral  deposit 
seldom  found  in  similar  extent  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world  except  Chinese  Manchuria. 

A  survey  has  been  made  for  a  branch  line  from  Samshui 
to  Kuilin,  the  capital  of  Kwangsi,  via  the  cities  of  Wu- 
chow  and  Pinglo,  about  three  hundred  miles. 

As  the  railway  will  pass  twenty-five  miles  to  the  east 
of  Yochow  in  Hunan,  a  branch  line  will  be  run  to  this 
important  town,  while  another  spur  of  nine  miles  will  be 
run  in  the  same  province  to  the  coal  area  of  Siangtan. 

The  Canton  end  will  link  this  city  with  the  important 
shipping  port  of  Swatow  via  Huichow,  Haifeng,  and 
Puning. 

His  Excellency  Sheng  Kung  Pao  owns  a  large  coal- 
bed  at  Pinghsiang  in  the  province  of  Kiangsi,  where  it  is 
possible  to  produce  over  two  thousand  tons  of  coal  'per 
diem  of  a  high  grade  bituminous  quality,  making  an 
excellent  coke.  For  the  purpose  of  developing  these 
mines  his  Excellency  had  a  line  of  railway  surveyed  to 
Lukow  on  the  Lu  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Siang  River. 
Work  on  the   railway  was  started  in  1899  without  the 


RAILWAY  TRANSIT  393 

assistance  of  any  foreign  capital,  and  in  1902  trains  were 
running  over  the  whole  distance  of  seventy  miles,  carrying 
coal  from  the  mines  to  his  Excellency's  boats  on  the  Lu 
River  and  bringing  back  machinery,  etc.,  required  at  the 
collieries.  There  never  has  been  any  hitch  or  disturbance 
on  this  railway,  which  is  operated  by  Chinese  accustomed 
to  consider  and  conciliate  local  prejudice.  From  the  very 
start  the  native  gentry  and  peasants  desired  to  utilize  this 
railway  for  passenger  traffic,  although  it  was  originally 
built  for  mining  development.  In  1904  it  was  doing  a 
large  passenger  and  goods  traffic  as  well  as  carrying  over 
one  thousand  tons  of  coal  fer  diem  from  the  mines.  So 
important  and  valuable  has  this  line  proved  that  it  is 
being  gradually  extended  to  Shu  Chao  and  Nan  Chang 
(the  capital  of  Kiangsi)  on  the  Kan  River  at  one  end,  and 
to  the  west  it  will  be  pushed  to  Changsha. 

So  quietly  and  successfully  has  this  line  been  worked 
that  very  little  is  heard  of  it,  or  will  be  heard  of  it,  until 
suddenly  its  importance  as  a  trade  route  will  dawn  on 
some  consular  official  or  isolated  merchant.  This  line  at 
no  distant  date  will  form  a  branch  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
line  from  Canton  to  Hankow  (Wuchang)  and  play  an  im- 
portant part  in  linking  up  the  Empire  with  iron  roads. 

Next  there  is  a  very  short  line  of  railway  from  the 
Tiehsanpu  Iron  Mines  in  Hupeh  to  the  Yangtse  at  a  point 
over  seventy  miles  from  Hankow.  This  is  run  at  present 
simply  as  a  mining  railway,  and  cannot  be  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  commercial  land  routes  of  China. 

The  most  important  railway  concessions  which  have 
been  granted,  but  on  which  no  work  other  than  surveying 
has  been  done,  are  as  follows :  — 

1.  Tientsin-Chinkiang,  Anglo-German  concession,  about  600  miles. 

2.  Chinkiang-Sinyang,  British  China  concession,  about  250  miles. 

3.  Shanghai-Nanking,  British  China  concession,  about  160  miles. 


894 


CHINA  IN  LAW  AND  COMMERCE 


4.  Soochow-Hangchow- 

Ningpo, 

5.  Shanghai-Hunan, 

6.  Kowloon-Canton, 

7.  Macao-Samshui, 

8.  Swatow-Tao  Chow, 

9.  Tientsin-Paotingfu, 

10.  Tung  Chow-Kaiping, 

11.  Peking-Kalgan, 

12.  Chengting-Chinanfu, 

13.  Chengting-Taiyuen, 

14.  Hankow-Chengtu, 
16.  Changsha-Chenchow, 
16.  Nanking-Haifeng, 


British  China  concession,  about  120  miles. 
Belgian-Chinese  concession,  about  560  miles. 
British  China  concession,  about  105  miles. 
American-Chinese  concession,  about  70  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  180  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  100  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  90  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  140  miles. 
German  concession,  about  170  miles. 
Eussian  concession,  about  140  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  800  miles. 
Chinese  concession,  about  230  miles. 
British  China  concession,  about  390  miles. 


As  may  be  seen  from  the  following,  railway  fares  in 
China  are  very  low  :  — 


Stbteh 

Section 

FlKST 

Second 

Third 

Class 

Class 

Class 

Imperial  Chinese 

Tientsin-Peking 

$0.03 

liO.Oli 

^0.00^ 

Imperial  Chinese 

Tientsin-Tangku 

0.02| 

0.0 1^ 

0.00| 

Imperial  Chinese 

Tangku-Yinkou- 

Hsinmintun 

0.02 

0.01 

0.00^ 

Imperial  Chinese 

Shanghai- Woosung 

0.10 

0.06 

0.02 

German 

Tsintao-Chinan 

— 

0.05 

0.02J 

Luhan  (Franco-Bel- 

Peking-Changte 

— 

0.03^ 

O.Oli 

gian) 

Luhan  (Franco-Bel- 

Hankow-Hu  Chow 

— 

0.03i 

o.oii 

gian) 

American 

Canton-Samshui 

— 

— 

— 

The  average  freight  charge  taken  as  a  whole  for  all  the 
lines  is  in  round  numbers  5  cents  or  Id.  per  ton  mile  as 
against  a  general  average  for  all  native  methods  of  11 
cents  or  2^d.  per  ton  mile. 

The  German  Shantung  Railway  carries  fourth-class 
passengers  at  IJ  cents  per  mile. 


BAILWAY  TBANSIT  396 

It  may  be  taken  that  5  cents  (Mexican)  is  a  little  over 
Id.  English  or  2^  cents  American  money. 

The  following  particulars  of  the  sectional  opening  of 
the  Luhan  line  are  interesting  as  showing  the  rapidity  of 
present  railway  development  in  China:  — 

(1)  Total  length  of  the  Peking-Hankow  line,  808 
miles. 

(2)  Distance  between  Peking  and  Yellow  River,  440 
miles. 

Distance  between  Hankow  and  Yellow  River,  366  miles. 

(3)  The  bridge  on  the  Yellow  River  wiU  be  2  miles 
long. 

(4)  The  railroad  from  Peking  to  the  Yellow  River  ex- 
tends actually  for  537  kilometers,  to  near  Weihuifu. 

The  railroad  from  Hankow  reached  the  Yellow  River 
in  June,  1904. 

(5)  The  railway  crosses  the  provinces  of  Pechili, 
Honan,  and  Hupeh. 

(6)  The  north  section,  from  Peking,  will  reach  the 
Yellow  River  next  March,  joining  the  railroad  from 
Hankow. 

(7)  Work  on  the  Yellow  River  bridge  is  in  full  activity 
and  will  be  completed  by  next  July. 

(8)  The  section  from  Peking  to  Paotingfu  (97  miles) 
has  been  open  to  traffic  since  October  1,  1899. 

The  section  from  Paotingfu  to  Chingtingfu  (175  miles) 
has  been  open  to  traffic  since  January,  1902. 

The  section  from  Chingtingfu  to  Shuntef u  (252|^  miles) 
has  been  open  to  traffic  since  September,  1903. 

The  section  from  Shuntefu  to  Changtefu  (336J  miles) 
has  been  open  to  traffic  since  November,  1904. 

(9)  The  section  from  Hankow  to  Koangchoei  (102  miles 
from  Hankow)  has  been  open  to  traffic  since  December, 
1901. 


396  CHINA  IN  LAW  AND   COMMERCE 

The  section  from  Koangchoei  to  Sinyangchow  (146 
miles)  has  been  open  to  traffic  since  August,  1902. 

The  section  from  Sinyangchow  to  Tchosangsien  (199 
miles)  has  been  open  to  traffic  since  September,  1903. 

The  section  from  Tchosangsien  to  Yentcheng  (256 
miles)  has  been  open  to  traffic  since  May,  1904. 

The  section  from  Yentcheng  to  Chuchow  (292  miles) 
has  been  open  to  traffic  since  November,  1904. 

The  opening  of  traffic  from  Peking  to  Hankow  must 
wait  until  the  Yellow  River  bridge  is  completed. 

In  June,  1905,  the  Hankow  to  Yellow  River  section 
will,  however,  be  open  to  all  classes  of  traffic. 

(10)  In  1903,  on  both  sections  of  the  line  open  to  traffic, 
north  and  south,  the  carriage  of  passengers  amounted  to 
800,000,  all  classes,  and  the  carriage  of  goods  and  mer- 
chandise amounted  to  860,000  tons. 


INDEX 


Abattoirs,  opportunity  for,  in  north- 
ern China,  332. 

Adoption  customs,  125-128. 

Adultery,  punishments  for,  121. 

Advertising,  methods  of,  suggested, 
261-263. 

Agents,  regulations  applying  to  li- 
censed, 93-94;  purchasing,  260-264. 
See  Gro-between. 

Agnates  and  cognates,  Maine  quoted 
concerning,  129-131. 

Agriculture,  as  a  religion,  6 ;  wasteful 
system  of,  6-7,  14-15;  area  of  land 
for,  diminishing,  16 ;  in  Manchuria, 
331 ;  in  Mongolia,  331-332 ;  in  Hunan, 
341 ;  in  Amur  valley,  344-345. 

Aigun,  treaty  of  (1858),  350. 

Alabaster,  "  Notes  and  Commentaries 
on  Chinese  Criminal  Law "  by, 
quoted,  79-81,  83-84,  85-86,  89-90. 

Amur  (Amoor)  River,  variety  of 
names  for,  344 ;  length  of,  344-345 ; 
tributaries,  and  towns  on,  345-350 ; 
Russian  exclusive  possession  of, 
350. 

Ancestor-worship,  filial  piety  mis- 
named, 225. 

Antimony,  in  Yunnan,  18;  in  Hupeh, 
337. 

Antung,  treaty  port,  353. 

Arabs  in  China,  194,  223;  more  highly 
esteemed  than  later  foreigners,  239. 

Argun  River,  344,  349-350. 

Arimaspians,  family  of  men  called, 
22-23,  27. 

Army,  management  of  Chinese,  46-47 ; 
the  ancient  Mongolian,  50 ;  organiza- 
tion of,  in  Manchuria,  51-52. 

Arson,  punishment  of,  88-89. 

Artisans,  work  of  early  Chinese,  found 
in  Europe,  223. 

Asbestos,  in  Shantung,  387. 


Associations,  money  loan,  246-249; 
business,  246-253;  capitalists',  249- 
250  ;  mei'cantile,  250-251  ;  names 
given  to,  252;  legal  status  of,  253. 
See  Guilds  and  Trade-unions. 

Bail,  customs  connected  with,  189. 

Ball,  Dyer,  on  fengshui,  264-265. 

Ballads,  Book  of,  24,  25. 

Bamboo  Palisade,  neglect  of,  317. 

Bandits,  315,  318,  324,  330. 

Banishment,  punishment  of  homicide 
by,  77,  78 ;  for  arson,  88. 

Bank,  Russo-Chinese,  381,  382. 

Banking,  method  of  establishing  a 
business  in,  275-276  ;  Wong  Kai- 
Kah  quoted  on,  27(>-282;  method  of 
conducting  business  of,  277-289 ; 
natives  of  Shausi  leaders  in,  282- 
284;  origin  of  system  of,  301-302. 

Bank  notes,  278-279. 

Bankruptcy,  laws  relating  to,  96-97. 

Banks,  association  of,  with  pawn- 
offices,  257-258;  national,  275;  classes 
of,  277;  "watchers"  of,  278,  279; 
runs  on,  prevented,  289;  at  treaty 
ports,  290. 

Bargain  money,  259-260. 

Beggars,  associations  of,  251. 

Beheading,  punishment  of  homicide 
by,  77;  for  rape,  87;  for  irregular 
marriages,  117. 

Belgian  railway  syndicate,  380-384. 

Blackburn  Commission,  216-217,  341, 
342-343. 

Board  of  Civil  Affairs,  64-65. 

Board  of  Education,  65. 

Board  of  Public  Works,  47,  67. 

Board  of  Punishment,  47,  67. 

Board  of  Revenue,  45,  15(5,  169. 

Board  of  Rites,  28,  ^35-46,  66. 

Board  of  War,  46-47,  62. 


397 


398 


INDEX 


Board  of  Works,  47-48. 

Boards,  administrative,  45-49,  64-69; 
five  administrative,  at  Mukden,  51. 

Bond,  British  China  Corporation's 
railway,  372-373,  381. 

Bonds  required  from  suspicious  char- 
acters, 177. 

Book  of  Odes,  24,  26, 132. 

Book  of  Rites,  46. 

Boundary  marks  of  land,  137-138. 

Bourne,  Mr.  Justice,  quoted,  335,  340. 

Boxer  movement  (1900),  230,  384,  389, 
390. 

Boycotts,  by  guilds,  214-217 ;  by  trade- 
unions,  242-244. 

Bridges,  remissness  in  care  of,  48  ; 
Russian  railway,  377,  379 ;  German, 
over  Weiho  River,  389. 

Brine  wells,  in  Szechuan,  18. 

Brinkley,  Captain  F.,  quoted,  171-174. 

British  China  Corporation's  railway 
bond,  372-373 ;  Russians  protest 
against,  381. 

British  Supreme  Court,  Shanghai,  141, 
195,  197,  199. 

Brokers,  regulations  applying  to,  93- 
94.    See  Go-between. 

Bronze,  early  coinage  of,  291  ;  con- 
fusion between  gold  and,  294-295. 

Buckwheat,  Mongolian,  331. 

Buddhism,  introduction  of,  31. 

Burden  of  proof  in  lawsuits,  189. 

Burma  Frontier  Treaty,  342. 

Camels,  transport  of  goods  by,  230 
cost  of  transportation  by,  231,  331 
on  Mongolian  trade  routes,  323-324 
at  Dolonor,  326-327 ;  in  Manchuria, 
331;  Mongolian,  350. 

Campbell,  C.  W.,  travels  of,  326,  328. 

Canals,  neglect  of,  48,  158,  316;  trans- 
portation of  goods  on,  227-228,  357- 
362. 

Canning  industry,  opportunity  for, 
north  of  Great  Wall,  332. 

Canton,  2;  agriculture  about,  19;  vice- 
roy at,  41-42 ;  railway  from,  to  Sam- 
shui,  390-393. 

Canton  River,  course  of,  341-342; 
towns  on,  342;  Blackburn  Commis- 
sion report  touching  on,  343. 

Capitalists'  associations,  249-250. 


Caravans,  ancient  Chinese,  311,  312; 
route  of,  from  Peking  to  Yarkand, 
315. 

Carolus  dollars  in  China,  302-305. 

Carrying  companies,  230 ;  associations 
of,  251. 

Carts,  transport  of  goods  by,  228,  381 ; 
damages  to  roads  from,  320,  330. 

Cash,  history  of  Chinese,  29(>-298. 

Cassini  Convention,  the,  374-375. 

Cattle-raising,  324,  332,  349,  350. 

"Caution  money,"  147. 

Censors,  imperial,  54-55,  68;  relation 
to  Emperor,  55-56. 

Chang  Chia  Tung,  rapid  at,  355. 

Changchow,  centre  of  salt  production, 
165-166. 

Changchunfu,  town,  355. 

Chang  K'ien,  traveller,  28-30,  292, 300, 
309. 

Changshan,  railway  junction  at,  390. 

Changtzin,  salt  centre,  165-166. 

Chan  Pai  Shan  (Long  White  Moun- 
tain), 347,  356. 

Chaoyangpo,  town,  355. 

Charcoal,  at  Kirin,  346. 

Cheapness,  influence  of,  in  Chinese 
trading,  232. 

Chefenghsien,  city,  354,  355. 

Chekiang,  Grand  Canal  stations  in, 
359. 

Cheng  Chow,  railway  to,  384. 

Chengtefu,  imperial  road  to,  325. 

Chengtu,  capital  of  province,  338. 

Chik,  definition,  298;  variation  in, 
299. 

Children,  traffic  in,  20;  parents  and, 
96,  102,  123;  of  concubines,  114,  123 
of  divorced  parents,   121 ;    murder 
of,  123,  127;    filial  duties  of,  124 
adopted,    124-128;     protection     of 
stray,    128-129;     illegitimate,    129 
responsibility  of,  177,  189,  225. 

Chili,  province,  coal-mining  in,  12 
affairs  of,  administered  by  a  viceroy 
41 ;  salt  in,  166 ;  roads  of,  322,  323 
Grand  Canal  stations  in,  359;  Chi 
nese  Imperial  Railway  in,  361,  371 
railway  riots  in,  384. 

Chinese  Eastern  Railway  system,  331, 
346,  350;  origins  of,  374-375;  con- 
struction of,  377-378. 


IKDEX 


399 


Chinese  Imperial  Eail-way,  361,  371; 
fares  on,  3W. 

Chingwantao,  railway  to,  372. 

Chinkiang,  treaty  port,  335,  340,359; 
salt  about,  166;  canning  industry 
and  trade-union  incident  at,  243. 

Chobutsu,  payment  of,  173. 

Chop,  232 ;  meaning  of  term,  268-269 ; 
method  of  keeping  and  using,  270; 
court  decisions  relating  to  use  of, 
270,  272-273;  of  ti-pao,  271-272;  of 
eompradore,  272-273;  on  fangtans, 
273 ;  on  bank  orders,  273-274. 

Christianity,  Kang-hi's  edict  tolerat- 
ing, 28 ;  in  seventeenth  century,  32. 

Chungking,  treaty  port,  337,  340. 

Cinnabar,  in  Hupeh,  337. 

Circuit,  Chinese  administrative  divi- 
sion, 38-39. 

Civil  Board,  the,  45. 

Clan,  the,  marriage  within,  forbidden, 
116. 

Clans,  grants  of  land  to,  134-135. 

Clansmen,  the  imperial,  61-62. 

Clearing-house,  Shanghai,  287. 

Clerks,  magistrates',  36-37. 

Clubs.    See  Associations. 

Coal,  in  north  China,  11-14,  349;  in 
south  China,  17;  in  Szechuan,  18; 
transportation  of,  by  camels,  230; 
to  north  of  Fengning,  326;  in  Hu- 
peh, 337 ;  Ho  Chow  a  trading  centre 
for,  339 ;  in  Kirin  province,  346,  347, 
378;  in  Manchuria,  349;  about  Che- 
fenghsien,  354 ;  on  Lutai  Canal,  361 ; 
on  Ussuri  railway  line,  379;  in  Shan- 
tung, 387 ;  in  Poshan  valley,  390 ;  on 
Canton-Samshui  line,  391-392 ;  Sheng 
Kung  Pao's  mines  of,  in  Kiangsi, 
392-393. 

Coal-mining  companies,  12-13,  384- 
386. 

Coasting  traffic,  362-365. 

Code  of  Chinese  laws,  70-72 ;  extracts 
from,  73-110. 

Cognatic  relationship,  129-130. 

Coinage,  history  of,  291-295,  296-299; 
silver  as  the  standard,  300-307 ;  gold 
supplanting  silver,  308. 

Coins,  first  issue  of,  296. 

Combines,  business,  246-253.  See  As- 
sociations. 


Compradore,  the,  238,  266-268;  chop 
of,  272-273. 

Concessions,  foreign,  at  Shanghai, 
197-204;  at  Tientsin,  353;  table  of 
railway,  393-394. 

Concubinage,  filial  piety  doctrine  re- 
sponsible for,  123. 

Concubines,  63,  112 ;  selection  of,  114 ; 
penalty  for  degrading  wife  to  rank 
of,  114-115 ;  children  of,  114,  123. 

Confucius,  62. 

Constables,  local,  35. 

Consular  courts,  194, 197,  200-202. 

Contracts,  of  marriage,  113-114;  of 
adoption,  124-125 ;  land,  147-152,  arid 
see  Deeds;  Chinese  regard  for,  in 
trade  relations,  224-226;  railway, 
372-373,  380-381. 

Coolies,  associations  of,  251. 

Coolie  transport,  228 ;  cost  of,  231. 

Copper,  14;  in  Yunnan,  18;  in  Hupeh, 
337;  in  Kirin  province,  347;  on 
Canton-Samshui  line,  392. 

Corruption,  official,  37,  159-160,  167, 
314,  371. 

Corvee,  the,  in  China,  174. 

Cosmas,  Greek  merchant  monk, 
223. 

Councils  of  central  government,  43- 
45;  division  into  administrative 
boards,  45. 

Counterfeiters,  treatment  of,  289- 
290. 

Courts,  gradation  of,  177-178;  open- 
ness of  proceedings  in,  179;  respon- 
sibility of,  180,  186-187;  suits  in, 
187-190;  corruption  in,  190-192;  for- 
eign, 193-204;  consular,  194,  197, 
200-202 ;  status  of  business  associa- 
tions in,  253. 

Credit,  Chinese  system  of,  232-234. 

Creeks,  treatment  of,  for  navigation, 
315-316;  transportation  by,  367- 
362. 

Currency.    See  Coinage. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  194-195. 

Customs,  internal,  162-165.  See  Likin 
tax. 

David,  Abb€,  13. 

Davis,  Sir  John,  quoted,  239-240. 

Debtors,  treatment  of,  95-96. 


400 


INDEX 


Deeds  of  land,  form  of,  136-137 ;  "  red  " 
and  "white,"  140;  Chinese  distin- 
guished from  English,  141-142 ;  form 
prescribed  for  (1783),  151;  loss  of, 
152. 

De  Guignes,  traveller,  quoted,  313. 

Department,  the  Chinese,  37-38. 

Department  of  Imperial  Body-guard, 
60. 

Department  of  Pasturage,  61. 

Diamonds,  in  Shantung,  387. 

Dishonesty,  official,  37,  188,  314,  371 ; 
in  collection  of  taxes,  15&-160;  in 
internal   revenue  department,  167. 

Districts,  Chinese  {Mens),  35-36. 

"Divine  right"  in  China,  56. 

Divorce,  causes  for,  121 ;  effect  of,  on 
husband,  wife,  and  children,  121- 
122. 

Dogs,  breeding  of,  326,  350. 

Dollars,  Spanish,  in  China,  302-303; 
Carolus  ("pillar"),  302-305;  Mexi- 
can, 305;  change  of  unit  to  taels, 
305. 

Dolonor,  roads  and  inns  at,  326-327; 
horse  fair  at,  327. 

Donkeys,  in  Mongolia,  350. 

Doolittle,  on  go-betweens,  237-238. 

Dragon-headed  Club,  the,  252. 

Droughts,  6,  19-20. 

Dust-storms,  7. 

Duties,  customs,  162.    See  Likin  tax. 

Edkins,  Dr.  J.,  cited,  158, 159,  182. 

Education,  Board  of,  65. 

Emperor,  Chinese,  position  of,  33-34, 
169 ;  appointment  of  officers  by,  43 ; 
censors  directly  responsible  to,  54- 
55 ;  restrictions  on  power  of,  55-58, 
70;  daily  record  of  behaviour  of, 
58-60;  two  branches  of  kindred  of, 
61-62;  selection  of  wife  for,  62-63; 
as  proprietor  of  the  soil,  132-133; 
roads  reserved  for,  322-323. 

Empress  Dowager,  55,  160,  168,  323. 

Equity  of  redemption,  principle  of, 
99-100. 

Eunuchs,  power  of,  63, 115 ;  family  life 
of,  115-116 

"Ever-sacred  Duke,"  title  of,  62. 

Examinations  for  public  service,  36, 40, 
65,66. 


Exchange,  banking,  287-289. 
Exclusion,  policy  of  trade,  239-242. 

Families,  grants  of  land  to,  134-135. 

Family,  the,  in  Chinese  system  of  gov- 
ernment, 34-35,  73-74 ;  definition  of 
the.  111;  marriages  within,  forbid- 
den, 116 ;  the  military,  so-called,  117 ; 
"  of  the  people,"  117 ;  responsibility 
of,  177,  189,  225;  of  Shansi  bank 
clerks,  282-283. 

Famines,  cause  of,  20. 

Fanchen,  town ,  337. 

Father,  position  of,  96,  102,  114,  123, 
124. 

Fenghuahsien,  town,  355. 

Fengning,  roads  and  conditions  about, 
326. 

Fengshui,  consideration  of,  264-266, 
370. 

Filial  piety  doctrine,  123,  124,  225. 

Fire-engines  maintained  by  guilds,  211. 

Foreign  customs  tax,  162. 

Foreigners  at  Shanghai,  197-198. 

Fostook.    See  Go-between. 

Foukiang  River,  340. 

France,  shipment  of  silver  from,  to 
China,  306;  railway  enterprises  of, 
380-381,  383. 

Fraudulent  sale,  punishment  for,  107- 
110. 

French  Concession,  at  Shanghai,  198, 
202-204 ;  at  Tientsin,  353. 

Fukien,  salt  produced  in,  165-166. 

Generals,  Tartar,  in  provinces,  43; 
in  Manchuria,  51-52. 

Germany,  shipping  statistics  of,  365, 
366;  Chinese  concessions  to,  386- 
387;  railway  construction  by,  387- 
390. 

Gerrare,  "  Greater  Russia "  by, 
quoted,  373-374. 

Gillespie,  quoted,  259. 

Gioro  line,  the,  61. 

Goats,  Mongolian,  350. 

Gro-between  (fostook),  omnipresence 
of  the,  138-139,  224;  distinguished 
from  middleman,  234-235;  business 
of,  described,  23.5-239;  union  of  fol- 
lowers of  vocation  of,  235,  238 ;  mis- 
understood by  foreigners,  237-238. 


INDEX 


401 


Gold,  14;  ornaments  of,  from  China, 
223,  293 ;  confusion  between  bronze 
and,  294-295;  becoming  the  stand- 
ard in  China,  308;  mining  of,  dis- 
couraged, 308;  in  Yunnan,  312; 
to  north  of  Fengning,  326;  in 
Hupeh  province,  337;  in  Kirin 
province,  347,  378;  on  Ussuri  rail- 
way line,  379 ;  in  Shantimg,  387. 

Goold-Adams,  Major  H.,  326. 

Governor,  powers  of,  in  Manchuria, 
52-53. 

Governor-generals  (viceroys) ,  41^2. 

Governors  of  provinces,  39-40 ;  powers 
of,  43. 

Grain,  taxes  on,  159,  172-173;  distil- 
lation of,  a31-332. 

Grain-raising,  18, 324, 325, 331-332, 340. 

Grand  Canal,  neglect  of,  47-48,  158; 
Tientsin  at  head  of,  352,  359;  stu- 
pendousness  of,  357-358;  antiquity 
of,  358;  length  of,  358-359;  stations 
on,  359;  improvement  of,  suggested, 
359-360. 

Grand  Council  (Imperial  Privy  Coun- 
cil), 43,  44-45,  64;  Tsung-li  Yamen 
connected  with,  49. 

Grand  Secretariat  (Imperial  Cabi- 
net), 43-44,  64. 

Graphite,  in  Shantung,  387. 

Great  Britain,  Supreme  Court  of,  at 
Shanghai,  141,  195, 197, 199;  treaties 
between  China  and,  195-196;  rate 
of  decrease  of  trade  with  China, 
262 ;  shipping  of,  in  China,  363,  364, 
366;  railway  undertakings  of,  373, 
374,  380,  390,  393-394;  railway 
agreement  with  Russia,  381-382. 

Great  Wall,  neglect  of,  317. 

Guard-houses,  dangers  of,  318. 

Guild,  piece-goods,  233;  go-betweens', 
235;  money-changers',  276;  bank- 
ers', 284-287. 

Guilds,  likin  officials  and,  163-164; 
origin,  206;  object,  206-207;  offi- 
cers, 207-208;  regulations,  207-209, 
210-211;  membership  limited,  208; 
inspections  of  mercantile  establish- 
ments' books  by,  209;  settlement 
of  disputes  by,  209-210;  recovery 
of  stolen  property  by,  211 ;  attitude 
toward  monopolies,  212-213 ;  as  boy- 

2i> 


cotters,  214-217;  limitations  of 
benefits  from,  214,  216,  220-221; 
influence  on  foreign  business  in- 
terests, 216-218;  relations  with 
government,  218-221. 

Habeas  corpus,  Chinese  equivalent  of, 
182. 

Handcarts,  transport  of  goods  by,  228; 
cost  of  transportation  by,  231. 

Handicrafts,  early  Chinese,  223. 

Han  Emperors,  9,  26,  28,  292,  300; 
Grand  Canal  at  time  of,  358. 

Hangchow,  treaty  port,  359. 

Hankow,  336-337 ;  national  bank  at, 
275 ;  flood  rise  at,  338 ;  as  distribut- 
ing centre,  340-341 ;  railways  to,  380- 
384,  390,  393,  394,  395. 

Han  River,  13,  336,  337. 

Harbarovsk,  town,  346. 

Harbin,  military  road  to,  324;  mush- 
room growth  of,  345,  376-377. 

Hart,  Sir  Robert,  160-161,  162,  167. 

Head-man  (ti-pao),  the,  34-35,  75; 
connection  of,  with  land  transfers, 
139-140;  duties  of ,  in  lawsuits,  187- 
188;  chop  of,  269,  271-272;  term  of 
office,  272. 

Hehlungkiang,  province,  51,  347. 

Highways,  19-20;  neglect  of,  47,  158. 
See  Roads. 

"  Historical  Record  "  (Shi-ki),  Chang 
K'ien's,  28. 

History,  daily  recording  of,  58-60. 

Hoang,  Peter,  quoted,  147-148, 150-151. 

Ho  Chow,  town,  339. 

Homicide,  classes  of,  and  punish- 
ments, 76-86. 

Honan,  coal  in,  13,  386. 

Hongkong,  2;  effect  of,  on  Canton 
River,  342. 

Horses,  at  Dolonor,  327 ;  in  Shilka  val- 
ley, 349. 

Hosie,  Alexander,  cited,  325,  330,  346- 
347. 

Housebreaking,  legal  principles  as  to, 
89-90. 

Houseburning,  crime  of,  88-89. 

House  tax,  the,  173. 

Howarth,  cited,  27. 

Hsiangtan,  proposed  treaty  port,  341. 

Hsiang  Yang,  town,  337. 


402 


INDEX 


Hsihchin,  town,  337. 

Hsinam,  town,  391. 

Hsinmintun,  railway  to,  372. 

Huai,  salt  in,  166. 

Huaitehsien,  town,  355. 

Hue,  E.  R.,  quoted,  190. 

Hulan  River,  344. 

Hulantien,  town,  345-346,  375. 

Hunan,  province,  3,  13,  336,  341,  386. 

Hun  Ho  River,  355. 

Hupeh,  province,    337,   341;  railway 

in,  383,  384 ;  iron  in,  393. 
Hurka  River,  344,  345. 
Hwang-ho  (Yellow)  River,  7 ;  unnavi- 

gability  of,  15 ;  power  of  current  of, 

357. 
Hwang  Li,  Emperor,  55. 
Hwang-pu,  creek,  340,  360. 
Hwangti,  Emperor,  317. 

Ichang,  treaty  port,  340. 

Ifenghsien,  361. 

Iman  River,  steamer  transportation 
on,  380. 

Infanticide,  123, 127. 

Ingoda  River,  344. 

Inheritance,  sons'  precedence  in,  126 ; 
rules  of,  applying  to  land,  144-146. 

Inns,  Mongolian,  327. 

Interest,  legal  provisions  concerning, 
101-104;  banking  regulations  re- 
lating to,  287. 

International  Settlement,  the,  at 
Shanghai,  198,  202-204. 

Iron,  13;  early  employment  of,  295; 
in  Hupeh,  337,  393 ;  in  Kirin  prov- 
ince, 346,  378;  on  Ussuri  railway 
line,  379;  in  Shantung,  387 ;  on  Can- 
ton-Samshui  line,  392. 

Italy,  represented  in  Peking  Syndi- 
cate, 384-385. 

Jamieson,  George,  cited,  116, 117,  140, 
142-143, 165-166. 

Jamieson,  J.  W.,  "  Chinese  Collection 
of  Leading  Cases"  by,  quoted,  104- 
110. 

Japan,  trade  of,  with  China,  262;  re- 
cent currency  history  in,  308;  trade 
of  Tientsin  with,  353 ;  shipping  trade 
of,  with  China,  363-364,  366. 

Jehol  district,  313,  325,  329,  354. 


Joint-stock  companies,  laws  concern- 
ing, 94-95. 

Judges  (prefects),  38;  provincial 
criminal,  40.    See  Magistrates. 

Junks,  traffic  on,  337,  338,  339,  347, 
355,  360 ;  cost  of  transport  by,  230. 

Kailingkiang  River,  339. 
Kailing  River,  339. 
Kalgan,  conditions  at,  328. 
Kanchuck,  town,  342. 
Kang-hi,  Emperor,  28, 191. 
Kankiang    River,     navigability     of, 

336. 
Kansu,  province,  5,  13,  341. 
Kan  Ying,  traveller,  30. 
Kaomi,  railway  riots  at,  388,  389. 
Kashgaria,  province,  341. 
Elhor  River  railway  bridge,  379. 
Kiangnan,  province,  troops  settled  in, 

after  Taiping  rebellion,  10. 
Kiangsi,  province,  3;  coal  in,  392. 
Kiangsu,  towns  of,  335;  waterways 

of,  335-336;  Grand  Canal  stations 

in,  359. 
Kiating  River,  338. 
Kidston,  G.  J.,  travels  of,  326,  328. 
Kien-lung,  Emperor,  152-153;    canal 

built  by,  361. 
Kin,  definition,  292,  297. 
Kinder,  R.,  railways  constructed  by, 

361,  371,  382. 
Kingsmill,  T.  W.,  32;  quoted  on  an 

early  trade  mission,  310-311,  312. 
Kirin,  province,  51;  Chinese  Eastern 

Railway  in,  374,  377-378. 
Kirin,    town,  traffic    from,   345;    de- 
scription  of,  346-347;    railway  to, 

377-378. 
Kiya  River  railway  bridge,  379. 
Kongmun,  town,  342. 
Korea,  route  from  Mukden  to,  330. 
Koxinga,  62. 
Kuang  Yuen,  town,  339. 
Kublai  Khan,  Emperor,  9,  31;  wives 

and  concubines  of,  63;  connection 

of,  with  Grand  Canal,  358. 
Kuikiang,  trade  of,  335,  336,  340. 
Kuiyang,  town,  337. 
Kuntaoho  River,  354. 
Kwang  Hsu,  Emperor,  310. 
Kwangsi,  province,  2,  3,  342. 


INDEX 


403 


Kwangtnng,  province,  2,  3. 
Kweichow,  province,  336,  337,  341. 

Land,  theory  of  Emperor's  proprietor- 
ship of,  132-133 ;  military  tenure  of, 
133-134 ;  grants  of,  to  clans,  134-135 ; 
method  of  obtaining  government 
grant  of,  135 ;  transfer  of,  by  deeds, 
136-142,  151-152;  boundary  marks 
of,  137-138 ;  chop  of  ti-pao  in  trans- 
actions in,  139-140,  271-272;  pur- 
chase of,  by  foreigners,  140 ;  customs 
relating  to,  at  treaty  ports,  140- 
141 ;  transfer  of,  by  mortgage,  142- 
144 ;  rules  of  succession  to,  145-146 ; 
leases  of,  146-149 ;  occupied  by  ten- 
ants, 146-151;  rents  from,  147-149; 
two  classes  of,  formed  by  alluvial 
deposits,  150-151 ;  taxes  on,  155-156, 
157-158, 161-162 ;  taxation  of,  of  In- 
ternational Settlement,  199;  as  se- 
curity in  banking  transactions,  281. 

Laohokou,  toivn,  337. 

Law,  codification  of,  70-72 ;  criminal, 
72-92;  codeof  civil,  92-110;  family, 
111-131;  land,  132-153;  administra- 
tion of,  according  to  recorded  cases, 
176, 181 ;  courts  of,  177-192. 

Lead,  14;  in  Hupeh,  337;  in  Kirin 
province,  347 ;  in  Shantung,  387. 

Li,  defined,  and  variation  in,  299. 

Liao  Ho  River,  2,  353 ;  tributaries  and 
towns  on,  354-355. 

Liaoyang,  town,  355. 

Likin  tax,  the,  162-165 ;  treaties  bear- 
ing on,  165,  336,  343 ;  farmed  out  to 
guilds,  219-220 ;  Blackburn  Commis- 
sion quoted  on,  342-343;  trade  ex- 
pansion hindered  by,  361. 

Li  Kwei,  codification  of  laws  by,  70. 

Li  Shimin,  Emperor,  9. 

Loan  associations,  245-249. 

Logs,  on  Amur  River,  347. 

Luhan  Railway,  380-384;  statistics  of 
construction,  395-396. 

Lutai  Canal,  361. 

Magistrates,  district,  34-.35 ;  staffs  of, 
36-38 ;  punishment  of,  for  erroneous 
decisions,  180,  187;  abuse  of  powers 
of,  190-192;  of  mixed  courts,  199- 
200. 


Maguire,  Charles  R.,  mining  engineer, 
333. 

Maine,  "Ancient  Law"  by,  quoted, 
129-131. 

Manchuria,  2;  trade  possibilities  of, 
50-51;  the  three  provinces  of,  51; 
military  system  of,  51-52;  govern- 
mental subdivisions  in,  53;  mule- 
teer carts  in,  231 ;  roads  in,  321,  323, 
325,329-332;  minerals  in,  330;  agri- 
culture and  cattle  industry  in,  331- 
332;  rivers  of,  344-357;  boundary 
line  of,  fixed  by  treaty,  349-350; 
railways  in,  374-380. 

Mandarins,  educational,  36.  See 
Magistrates. 

Manslaughter,  in  Chinese  code,  79-81. 

Mantsz  race,  8-9. 

Mao  Chow,  town,  338. 

Maps,  Franco-Belgian  railway,  383. 

Marriage,  customs  connected  with, 
63,  112-114;  age  for,  112,  115;  im- 
pediments to,  115-119;  to  deceased 
wife's  sister,  116;  restrictions  on 
officials',  118;  contracts,  119-120; 
dissolution  of,  see  Divorce. 

Match-making,  Chinese,  63. 

Mayen  River,  344. 

Measures,  guild  regulations  concern- 
ing, 210;  history  of,  298-299;  dis- 
crepancies in,  299-300. 

Meiling  range  of  mountains,  17-18. 

Mencius,  292,  293-294. 

Middleman  (ffombeenman)  distin- 
guished from  the  go-between 
(fostook),  234-235. 

Middlemen,  in  land  transactions,  138- 
139. 

Military  establishment,  provincial,  43. 

Minerals,  in  Manchuria,  330;  in 
Hupeh,  a37  ;  in  Yunan,  341;  in 
Yalu  valley,  356 ;  in  Shantung,  387 ; 
on  Canton-Samshui  line,  391-392. 

Min  River,  337-338. 

Mints,  280-281. 

Missionaries,  at  Kalgan,  328. 

Mixed  courts,  at  Shanghai,  195-196, 
199-200,  203-204. 

Mohammedanism  in  China,  223. 

Mohammedans,  Chinese,  in  Manchuria 
and  Mongolia,  327;  at  Sungpan, 
338;  at  Paoning,  339. 


404 


INDEX 


MoUendorff,  on  impediments  to  mar- 
riage, 116,  117,  119;  on  adoption, 
124-125,  126,  127. 

Money,  primitive  contrivances  regard- 
ing, 291-295;  first  coinage  of,  296. 
iSee  Coinage. 

Money-changers,  276. 

Money  loan  associations,  246-249. 

Mongolia,  muleteer  carts  in,  231; 
trade  routes  in,  323-327;  explora- 
tions in,  325-329;  agriculture  and 
cattle  industry  in,  331-332,  350. 

Mongolian  dogs,  breeding  of,  326, 
350. 

Mongols,  confusion  between  Chinese 
and,  22-23,  27. 

Monopolies,  guilds'  attitude  toward, 
212-213. 

Monsoon,  the,  2. 

Mortgages,  law  as  to,  9S-101,  10^110, 
133,  142-144. 

Mountains  of  China,  2-3. 

Mourners,  associations  of,  251. 

Mourning,  period  of,  118, 122. 

Mow,  definition,  147,  299. 

Mukden  (Feng-t'ien),  51,  353;  govern- 
ment of,  53;  roads  to  and  from, 
330-331 ;  situation,  ^55. 

Mule  carriage  of  goods,  229,  231 ;  cost 
of,  331. 

Mules,  in  Mongolia,  350. 

Murder,  distinction  between  man- 
slaughter and,  79-81;  of  infants, 
123,  127.     See  Homicide. 

Nanking,  viceroy  at,  41-42 ;  situation 
of,  3a5. 

Nanpu,  city,  339. 

Neighbours,  responsibility  of,  lA-15, 
111,  189. 

Nephews,  adoption  of,  124-125. 

Newchwang,  2 ;  bean-oil  and  bean-cake 
mills  at,  242;  condition  of  roads 
around,  321;  opening  of,  as  treaty 
port,  355 ;  railways  to,  372,  375. 

Nickel,  in  Hupeh,  337. 

Nikolsk,  railways  at,  379. 

Ningpo,  guilds  about,  206. 

Nobility,  titular,  61-62. 

Nonni  River,  344,  345. 

Notes,  banks' ,  278-279. 

Nuan,  town,  346. 


Oats,  Mongolian,  331. 

Obligations,  Chinese  regard  for  fulfil- 
ment of,  224-226;  failure  to  dis- 
charge, by  banks,  288-289. 

Odes,  Book  of,  24,  25,  132. 

Office  of  Ceremony,  60. 

Office  of  Works  Department,  61. 

Officers,  Manchurian  army,  52. 

Officials,   "expectant,"    36;    district- 
3()-38  ;    dishonesty  of,  37,   159-160 
167,   314,  371;  salt  department,  37 
yamen,  37 ;  department  (prefecture) 
38;  circuit,  38-39;  provincial,  39-40 
viceroys,  41-42 ;  appointment  of,  43 
military,  of  provinces,  43 ;    of  the 
six  administrative    boards,    45-49 ; 
punishment  of  defaulting,  105-108; 
marriage  restrictions  of,  118;  chop 
used  by,  273. 

Olio  custom,  224. 

Opium  taxes,  162. 

Ox-wagon  carrying,  327. 

Packing,  methods  of,  in  transporta- 
tion of  goods,  228-230 ;  cost  of,  231. 

Pai  Shui  Chiang,  town,  340. 

Pai  Shui  Ho  River,  340. 

Pan  C'hao,  traveller,  30. 

Paoning,  city,  339. 

Paresean  inhabitants,  23,  25. 

Parents,  children  and,  34-35, 84-85, 96 ; 
absolute  power  of,  123. 

Parker,  E.  H.,  quoted,  169-171. 

Parsons,  W.  Barclay,  3fK),  391. 

Partjierships,  laws  relating  to,  94-98. 

Pavement  of  roads,  319. 

Pawnshops,  three  classes  of,  253-254; 
laws  relating  to,  255 ;  association  of, 
with  banks,  257-258 ;  used  for  stor- 
age purposes,  259. 

Pay-days,  232-234. 

Pearl  River,  2.    See  Canton  River. 

Pechili,  province,  2. 

Peihan  Railway,  380-384 ;  statistics  of 
construction,  395-396. 

Peiho  River,  2 ;  conservancy  of,  351. 

Peking,  garrison  at,  46,  49 ;  bad  sani- 
tary condition  of,  47 ;  character  of 
civil  government  of,  49;  judiciary 
board  at,  182-183;  roads  to  and 
from,  310,  315,  .323-325:  railways 
centring  at,  372,  380-384,  394. 


mDEX 


405 


Peking  carts,  229,  231. 

Jf  eking  Gazette,  newspaper,  75. 

Peking  pug  dogs,  breeding  of,  326. 

Peking  Syndicate,  13, 384-386. 

Peking-Tientsin  Railway,  352. 

Penal  Code,  Chinese,  47. 

Perjury,  definition  and  penalties,  90- 
91. 

Petition,  right  of,  58, 182. 

Petroleum,  in  Szechuan,  18. 

Physicians,  conviction  of,  for  man- 
slaughter, 81. 

Piece-goods  guild,  233. 

Pillar  dollars,  303. 

Ping  Chuen  roads,  324-325. 

Platinum,  in  Hupeh,  337. 

Polyandry,  custom  of,  122-123. 

Polo,  Marco,  8,  29,  31,  63. 

Ponies,  Mongolian,  350. 

Porcelains,  223. 

Port  Arthur,  Russians  occupy,  375. 

Potteries,  223. 

Prefect,  office  of,  38. 

Prefectures  (departments),  37-38. 

Priests,  marriage  of,  119. 

Princes  of  the  Iron  Crown,  61. 

Prisons,  181-182. 

Province,  Chinese  administrative  divi- 
sion, 39-40;  military  establishment 
of,  43. 

Provinces,  the  three  Manchurian,  51. 

Pu,  measure  called  the,  299. 

Public  works,  neglect  of,  47-48. 

Public  Works,  Board  of,  67. 

Puk'usi,  town,  347,  348. 

Quicksilver,  in  Tunnan,  18. 

Rafts,  transportation  of  goods  by,  349, 
354. 

Railway,  Chinese  Eastern,  331,  346, 
350,  374-375,  377-378;  Peking-Tien- 
tsin, 352;  Peking-Tung  Chow,  353; 
Seoul- Wiju,  356-357;  Chinese  Im- 
perial, 361,  371,  394;  the  first,  370; 
Woosung-Shanghai,  370-371 ;  Vladi- 
vostock-Harbarovsk  ,.378-379 ;  Ussurl 
line,  379;  Peihan  (Peking-Hankow), 
380-384,  395-396;  Luhan,  382,  395- 
396;  German  Shantung,  386,  387- 
390;  Hankow-Canton,  390,  393,  394, 
395. 


Railway  Bond  Contract  of  British 
China  Corporation,  372-373,  381. 

Railway  concessions,  13;  tabulated, 
393-394. 

Railway  fares,  394. 

Railway  riots,  384;  causes  of,  388-389. 

Railways,  introduction  of,  into  north 
China,  20;  opposition  of  carrying 
companies  to,  230;  possibilities  of, 
369;  central  government's  attitude 
toward,  371;  Manchurian,  374r-380. 

Rape,  principles  concerning,  and  pen- 
alties, 86-88. 

Relationship,  doctrine  of  agnatic  and 
cognatic,  129-131. 

Religion,  marriage  unaffected  by  dif- 
ference in,  119. 

Rents,  from  land,  147-149;  taxes  on, 
148,  149,  162;  penalties  for  non- 
payment of,  149. 

Resthouses,  318;  recent  erection  of 
imperial,  322. 

Restitution  of  stolen  property,  104-107. 

Revenue,  sources  of,  162. 

Rice,  growth  of,  in  south  China,  11, 
18-19. 

Rice  crop  the  basis  of  taxation,  159, 
171-173. 

Richthofen,  Baron  von,  quoted,  313. 

Right  of  petition,  58,  182. 

Rites,  Board  of,  28,  45-46,  66. 

Rites,  Book  of,  46. 

Rivers  of  China,  2-3;  description  of, 
334-357 ;  Blackburn  Commission 
quoted  on,  343;  figures  of  traffic 
on,  362-364. 

Roads,  lack  of,  in  north  China,  15, 
19,  158 ;  of  south  China,  19 ;  neglect 
of,  47, 158,  319 ;  excellence  of  early, 
310;  routes  of  early,  310,  312;  grad- 
ual disappearance  of,  311-312 ;  mod- 
em traces  of,  312-313;  importance 
of,  admitted,  313-314;  to  and  from 
Yarkand,  315;  pavement  of,  319; 
regulations  concerning  imperial, 
322;  Mongolian,  325-329;  Manchu- 
rian, 329-332;  military,  of  Shansi 
and  Shensi,  332-333. 

Romans,  attempt  of  ancient,  to  estab- 
lish trade  relations  with  China,  222- 
223. 

Rubies,  in  Shantung,  387. 


406 


INDEX 


Russians,  improvement  of  roads  by, 
321;  at  Urga,  328;  work  of,  at 
Harbin,  346,  375-377;  at  Tsitsihar, 
348;  on  Shilka  River,  348-349;  on 
Amur  River,  350;  sliipping  of,  in 
China,  364,  366;  railway  activities 
of,  37^-380,  381-382,  394 ;  protest  of, 
against  British  China  Corporation 
bond,  381. 

Salt,  deposits  of,  15 ;  in  Szechuan,  18 ; 
officials  connected  with  transactions 
in,  37;  taxes  on,  162,  165-167;  sys- 
tem of  production  and  cost  of,  165- 
166 ;  Nanpu  a  trading  centre  for,  339 ; 
about  Tientsin,  353. 

Samshui,  treaty  port,  342;  railway 
from  Canton  to,  390-393. 

Sam-su  Kiang  River,  356. 

Sassoon  Company  v.  Wong  Gan  Ying, 
case  of,  272-273. 

"  Sea-quelling  Duke,"  title  of,  62. 

Seoul-Wiju  Railway,  356-357. 

Servants,  position  of,  in  family, 
111. 

Shanghai,  2;  mixed  court  at,  39; 
British  Supreme  Court  at,  141,  195, 
197, 199;  the  taotai  at,  167;  French 
Concession  at,  197,  202-204;  Inter- 
national Settlement  at,  198 ;  national 
bank  at,  275 ;  bankers'  guild  of,  285- 
287;  Hankow  compared  to,  340;  pro- 
jected railways  to,  393,  394. 

Shanhaikwan,  railway  at,  372. 

Shansi,  coal  in,  13,  386;  salt  produced 
in,  165 ;  bankers  from,  282-284 ;  mili- 
tary roads  of,  332-333. 

Shantung,  immigration  from  the 
northwest  into,  10;  coal  in,  12;  re- 
cession of  fertile  lands  in,  16 ;  con- 
dition of  roads  in,  313;  Grand  Canal 
stations  in,  359;  German  exploita- 
tion of,  386-390. 

Sheep,  around  Sungpan,  338;  around 
Tung  Chuan,  340 ;  in  Shilka  valley, 
349;  in  Mongolia,  350. 

Sheng  King,  province,  51 ;  government 
of,  51-53. 

Sheng  Kung  Pao,  coal-beds  owned  by, 
392-393. 

Sheng-MacKay  Treaty  of  Commerce, 
368. 


Shensi,  province,  5,  341 ;  emigrants 
from,  settle  in  Yunnan,  10;  coal  and 
iron  deposits  in,  13;  military  roads 
of,  332-333. 

"Shi-ki,"  Chang  K'ien's,  28. 

Shilka  River,  344,  348-349. 

Shinhing,  town,  342. 

Ship-brokers,  judicial  supervision  of, 
93-94. 

Shipping,  statistics  of,  362-367. 

"  Shoes  "  of  sycee,  defined,  234 ;  mints 
for  coining,  280. 

Shroff,  the,  266-268. 

"  Shu  King,"  the,  8,  24,  292,  294. 

Shun,  Emperor,  116. 

Shun  Ching,  town,  339. 

Shunchi,  Emperor,  71. 

Siang  River,  336,  392. 

Siaochwen,  "  small  seal  character," 
296. 

Silk  industry,  5,  6. 

Silver,  in  Yunnan,  18;  used  first  only 
for  ornaments,  294 ;  the  commercial 
currency  of  modern  China,  300 ; 
arrival  of  Spanish,  from  Philippines, 
302;  importation  of,  from  France, 
306 ;  in  Hupeh  province,  337 ;  mined 
in  Kirin  province,  347;  in  Shan- 
tung, 387. 

Sirha  Man  Ho  River,  354. 

Slaves,  position  of,  in  family,  111; 
marriage  of,  119. 

Sleeve  dogs,  breeding  of,  326. 

Smugglers,  salt,  166. 

Snake  casting  its  Skin  Club,  the,  252. 

Soochow,  treaty  port,  359. 

Spirits,  distillation  of,  332. 

Staunton,  Sir  George  Thomas,  72. 

Steamers  on  waterways,  334-338,  340, 
342,  345,  346,  348-352,  354-355,  359, 
360,  362-367. 

Stolen  property,  restitution  of,  104- 
107 ;  recovery  of,  by  guilds,  211. 

Storage,  guild  regulations  concerning, 
210. 

Strangulation,  punishment  by,  77 ;  for 
rape,  87 ;  for  adultery,  121 ;  for  pre- 
ferring anonymous  complaint,  178. 

Succession,  to  imperial  throne,  55-56 ; 
rules  of,  144-146. 

Suifu,  town,  337. 

Sungari  River,  344,  345,  346,  347,  350. 


INDEX 


407 


Sangpan,  town,  338. 

Sureties,  for  suspected  characters,  177, 

189;  in  banking  transactions,  280; 

for  Shansi  bank  clerks,  283. 
Sycee,  234;  coinage  of,  280;  bankers' 

guild's  regulations  concerning,  286. 
Szechuan,  province,  18,  165,  341. 
Sze  Nan,  town,  337. 

Tael,  definition  of,  234;  the  unit  of 
weight  of  modern  China,  300 ;  stand- 
ard weight  of,  300-301 ;  change  from 
dollar  to,  as  unit,  305. 

Tainzan-fu,  coal  in,  12. 

Taiping  rebellion,  11,  304,  305. 

Taitzuho  River,  355. 

Taku,  cost  of  salt  at,  166. 

Ta  Lama  Miao,  the,  326-327. 

Talc,  in  Shantung,  387. 

Talienwan,  railway  from  Newchwang 
to,  375. 

Tangshan,  coal-mining  in,  12-13. 

Taotai  (intendant  of  circuit),  39-40; 
salary  of,  at  Shanghai,  167;  chop 
of,  271-272. 

Tartars,  absorption  of,  by  Chinese,  71. 

Tating,  town,  337. 

Tatungkow,  treaty  port,  353. 

Taxation,  difference  between  theory 
and  practice  in,  154-156,  174-175; 
apportionment  of,  156-157 ;  mildness 
of  Manchu  dynasty  in,  158 ;  bad 
results  of  slight,  158;  rice  crop  the 
basis  of,  159,  171-173;  official  cor- 
ruption connected  with,  159-160, 163- 
164,  169-170 ;  revenue  resulting  from 
(Sir  Robert  Hart's  estimate),  160, 
162;  principal  subjects  of,  162;  ex- 
treme irregularities  in,  169-171 ; 
regulations  relating  to,  of  foreign 
settlements  at  Shanghai,  198-199. 

Taxes,  capitation,  159 ;  collection  of, 
159-160 ;  amoimt  realized  from,  161, 
162 ;  ad  misericordiam  allowance  in 
payment  of,  300. 

Tenants,  land,  146-149. 

T'ien  K'i,  Emperor,  32. 

Tientsin,  treaty  port,  2,  351,  352,  353; 
national  bank  at,  275;  foreign  con- 
cessions at,  353;  importance  of,  3B9. 

Tientsin-Kuyeh  Railway,  361,  371. 

Times  (London)  railway  article,  369. 


Tin,  in  Tannan,  18;  black,  in  Hupeh, 
337 ;  in  Shantung,  387. 

T'ing  Chao,  polyandry  in,  122. 

Ti-pao.    See  Head-man. 

Torture  for  extorting  evidence,  179- 
180, 190. 

Trade,  regulations  for  guarding  moral- 
ity of,  93-94;  Roman,  Greek,  and 
Arab,  222-223;  river  and  coasting, 
362-367. 

Trademarks,  232.    See  Chop. 

Trade  routes,  312-318, 322-325,  328, 330, 
332 ;  Blackburn  Commission's  report 
on  waterways  as,  343.  See  Rail- 
way. 

Trade-union,  go-betweens',  235. 

Trade-unions,  242-246.  See  Associa- 
tions and  Guilds. 

Transportation  companies,  230. 

Treasury  of  Privy  Purse,  the,  60. 

Treaties,  bearing  on  Kkin  tax,  165, 336, 
343 ;  relating  to  extra-territoriality, 
193, 195-202. 

Treaty,  Anglo-Chinese  (1858),  195; 
Burma  Frontier,  342 ;  Russo-Chinese, 
fixing  Manchurian  boundary,  349- 
350  ;  Sheng-MacKay,  368 ;  Russo- 
Chinese  railway,  374-375. 

Treaty  ports,  Chinese  officials  at,  39 ; 
transfers  of  land  at,  140-141 ;  banks 
at,  290 ;  on  Yangtse  River,  335-341 ; 
statistics  of  vessels  registered  at, 
367. 

Trusts,  Chinese  eqtiivalent  of,  246, 
249. 

Tseo  Rao  Ho  River,  354. 

Tsi,  first  coined  money  issued  at, 
292. 

T'sin  Shi  Hwangti,  "First  Emperor," 
8-9,  292,  295-297. 

Tsitsihar,  town,  347,  348. 

Tso  Chwen,  the,  8. 

Tsung-li  Yamen,  the,  48-49, 196. 

Tsungyi,  town,  337. 

Tijng  Chow,  town,  351,  352;  railway 
from,  to  Peking,  353,  372;  railway 
projected  to  Kaiping,  394. 

Tung  Chuan,  town,  340. 

Tung  Kiang  River,  356. 

Tungting  Lake,  336,  341. 

Tunni  River,  344. 

"  Two  Kang  "  provinces,  342. 


408 


INDEX 


Unions.    See  Trade-unions. 

United  States,  treaties  between  China 
and,  194-195, 343;  International  Set- 
tlement at  Shanghai,  198 ;  consular 
courts  of,  201-202 ;  rate  of  increase 
of  trade  with  China,  262 ;  shipping 
statistics  of,  365,  366 ;  railway  pro- 
jects of,  380-381,  390-391,  393-394. 

Urga,  Russians  at,  328. 

Ussuri  railway  line,  379. 

Ussuri  River,  344,  350 ;  railway  bridge 
over,  379. 

Viceroy,  office  of,  41-42. 

Village,  composition  of,  34;  responsi- 
bility of,  34-35,  74-75,  177,  189. 

Vladivostock-Harbarovsk  Railway, 
378-380. 

Volumes  on  government,  official,  64- 


Wade,  Sir  Thomas,  196. 

Wai  Wu  Pu,  name  of  Tsung-H  Yamen 
changed  to,  49. 

Wanping,  coal-fields  of,  12. 

Warrants,  salt,  166. 

Water  transport,  227-228,  334-368. 

Waterways,  neglect  of,  48,  158,  316; 
natural,  334-357;  Blackburn  Com- 
mission quoted  on,  343;  artificial, 
357-362;  figures  of  traffic  on,  362- 
364. 

Weights,  guild  regulations  concern- 
ing, 210;  history  of,  296-298. 

Weiho  River,  railway  bridging  over, 
389. 

Weihsien,  389. 

Wei  Wha  chop,  273-274. 

West  River.    See  Canton  River. 

Wheelbarrow  strike  at  Shanghai,  246. 

Wheelbarrow  transport,  228 ;  cost  of, 
231. 

Whipping,  punishment  by,  77,  78. 

Whiskey,  opportunities  for  production 
of,  332. 

Widows,  remarriage  of,  117-118;  re- 
main members  of  deceased  hus- 
band's family,  120;  power  of  adop- 
tion, 125;  succession  of ,  to  property, 
146. 


Wife,  only  one,  allowed,  112 ;  selection 
of,  112-113;  husband's  power  to 
degrade,  114-115;  position  of,  in 
household,  120;  property  of,  be- 
comes husband's  on  marriage,  120; 
fate  of  a  divorced,  121-122. 

Williams,  E.  T.,  quoted,  60-61,  73, 220, 
319,  333,  334. 

Wills,  144. 

Wives,  case  where  two  are  allowed, 
125. 

Women,  selection  of,  for  imperial 
harem,  45,  60. 

Wong  Kai-Kah,  pamphlet  by,  on 
banking,  quoted,  276-282. 

Wool  production,  338,  340. 

Woosung-Shanghai  Railway,  370. 

Wright,  T.  W.,  quoted  on  banking 
customs,  282-283. 

Wuchowf  u,  treaty  port,  342. 

Wuhu,  bankers'  guild,  284;  trade  of, 
335,340. 

Wukiang  River,  337. 

Wu  Ti,  Emperor,  14,  28,  29, 309, 310. 

Yalu  River,  353;  navigation  of,  356; 
valley  of,  356-a57. 

Yamen  runners,  37,  200,  203,  254-255. 

Yamens,  in  Manchuria,  53. 

Yangtse  River,  2,  4;  navigability  of, 
334-335;  towns  situated  on,  and 
tributaries,  335-341 ;  Gorges  of,  338. 

Yarkand,  roads  from,  315. 

Yen,  300.    See  Money. 

Yin,  definition,  166. 

Yochow,  projected  railway  to,  392. 

Yuan  River,  336. 

Yu-Foo-Chee  v.  Evans  and  Company, 
case  of,  270. 

Yule,  Sir  Henry,  31. 

Yung-lo,  Emperor,  117. 

Yun  Ho.    See  Grand  Canal. 

Yunnan,  province,  4,  9,  10;  metallic 
deposits  in,  17-18 ;  disappearance  of 
trade  roads  through,312 ;  gold  in, 312. 

Zend  Avesta,  Chinese  history  in  the, 
24-25. 

Zinc,  in  Hupeh  province,  337 ;  in  Shan- 
tung, 387. 


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